Michael Hodson wants to stay in touch on LinkedIn

2010-09-23T16:27:00.001-05:00

Michael,

I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

- Michael Hodson

Michael Hodson
Owner at Hodson Law Firm
Fayetteville, Arkansas Area

Getting the Travel Groove Back

2010-09-17T14:39:00.002-05:00

So I have now been in Colombia for about a week, and frankly, I don't have my travel groove back yet. I simply haven't gotten into any type of rhythm at all yet.

During my last trip, movement was the constant. Because I had to make it all the way around without flying, I was moving fairly constantly. Three or four days in a place was my usual maximum, then it was time to hop another bus or boat or whatever. Now, I'm down in Colombia writing (and not doing nearly enough of that yet either) and not really moving at all. Frankly, not doing much traveling in any sense of that word.

One of the amusing exchanges I had with someone at the hostel yesterday. A guy had just arrived at sat at my table in the common area.

Him: "So how long have you been in Cartagena?"
Me: "Four of five days."
Him: "So what have you done?"
Me: "Nothing really. Just hanging out."

Now that isn't 100% accurate. I've walked around most of the old part of town. Had some beers at a couple places. Sampled some street food and a few restaurants. But I'm not really on any sort of "tourist" trip. I'm hear for a good long while, unless I decide to up and move to another spot. There really isn't any impetus for me to "do stuff." What I really need to do is sit at this computer and with my outline (yes, I actually have been doing some organization for the writing) and start hammering away.

And so I shall.

Needing to come up with some structure to the day. Carve up the time to my liking. I know that writing a book is a job -- I just need to figure out when my good office hours are going to be. Cooler mornings with coffee? Or is that the better time to walk around and think and clear my head? Hot afternoons, out of the sun? Don't know yet. But time to kick myself in the ass and get going.

Another thing that has caused me a bit of disconnect is the fact that I flew down here. A few days ago I thought about the huge difference in getting to Colombia this time verses last time, when I was browsing through my passport. It took me about 16 hours to get to Colombia this time. It took me 32 days last time.

I'm not saying that overland travel is somehow superior to hopping on a plane. God knows that if I wanted to write down here, I couldn't spend the time and energy going overland again. But what is different is the sense -- no, the feeling -- of what it took to get here. The last time, I felt the miles. This time, I took an afternoon nap and was landing at Bogota International Airport. It is hard to explain, but it leads to a completely different feeling once I got here.

And I suppose, being hard to explain, it might be something I should think about and put in a book. A book about traveling around the world without flying. Yea. I think that'll be an interesting one.

p.s. this is my last blog on this domain. I bought another domain name and I'm transferring all my stuff over there, hopefully this weekend. I'll post all the info and hopefully figure out a way to make this blog link to it directly.

Photo of the Day: Chalk Art in Florence

2010-09-01T13:00:00.001-05:00

From Various old

What I Don't Like about Travel

2010-08-31T09:49:00.011-05:00

On the eve of me getting back on the road -- and being pretty damn excited about it -- thought it would be a good time to highlight some of the things that I find not-so-great out there on the road, since most of my friends seem to think most everything is wine and roses out there.

(1) Widow Makers. You don't run into these too often, but the name pretty much describes the experience. You are looking at a shower head in Central America. The warm water is provided by a basic electrical coil contained in the shower head. Yes -- electricity plus water. I think I got a C- in high school physics, but I feel pretty sure that this is not a combination that you should feel overly confident about.

(2) Visas -- Hell, just border agents in general. As an American, I should be the last person complaining about visas and border crossings, because frankly, entering my country is the worst. The worst. So every time I have a problem at a border or have to pay $100 to get into a country, I take a few deep breaths and say to myself, "it's worse for them to come into my country." Then I get pissed off anyway.

(3) Loud and rude people in dorm rooms. I wrote an entire blog about the hostel/dorm rules, so I won't go over them all again, save to highlight one of them: we are all sleeping in here. It is 3:30 a.m. I'm glad you had a great night out, but please try to show some respect when you crawl your drunk ass back into the dorm room.

(4) Know-it-All's. Happens at home also, but the road variation is the person that keeps one-upping your trip stories or craps on your future travel plans. "Well, if you want to go to Cuzco, that's fine, but if you want a real taste of Inca culture, instead of that touristic garbage, you should go to....."

(5) Abject poverty. Don't want to make this one controversial, so let me preface it by explaining one of my philosophies that I've come to have as a core belief because of travel: we are all (at least those reading this, most likely) just damn fricking lucky. Our souls just happened to pop out in the United States or Canada or Western Europe or Australia -- at least that is where almost all my readers are from. There wasn't anything to account for that other than dumb luck. Given the population disbursement around the world, we were all many times more likely to be born in a 3rd world country, in abject poverty, with a crappy government and infrastructure, poor schooling opportunities, and little chance of moving up the ladder. We all ought to wake up every morning and just thank the big He/She/It in the sky that we were all lucky enough to arrive where we did.

That being said, what gets to me on the road is how many people are born without those possibilities. How many Einsteins or Churchills or Hemingways or Hawkings have been born out there and just withered away, because they had no access to education, infrastructure, and resources to develop their talents?? The mental resources that we waste as a planet just depress me. As do the direct effects of poverty -- deforestation, environmental problems, short life spans, crime, mistreatment of women. Arrrrrggggggg.

To be clear -- and to hopefully avoid lots of negative comments -- I'm not saying that people in the 3rd world can't lead happy and productive lives. Some of the happiest people I've seen on the planet are poor as dirt. On many days, I wish I was as happy as the kid playing with the stick and the tire on the side of the road.... but I'd also like him/her to have the opportunity, if they want to take it, to get educated, acquire some basic necessities, and perhaps change the world for the better.

(6) Getting ripped off. On the opposite end of the scale, I can't stand getting ripped off, even it it is just for a couple bucks. It isn't the money -- clearly, paying $3 for something that locals pay $1 for isn't that big a deal (and might actually help issue #5 in a small way), but I think it is the attendant implication of my stupidity that bothers me. Yes, I realize that you are ripping me off, Mr. Shop Owner. Not all tourists are blissfully ignorant rubes, there for you to pluck like ripe fruit off a tree.

And what REALLY annoys me on this front is when I get quoted a price for something that is eight or ten times the proper price. Look -- I expect that you are going to quote me double. That's fine. When I'm in a patient mood, a little bargaining is part of the fun of travel. But don't jack up the price to ten times normal, and then when I laugh at you, cut the price down by 80% to get to what should have been your starting price. I refuse to even bargain with you, seeing as you just basically told me, via your price, that I'm the dumbest person you've ever seen. Piss off.

(7) Cab Drivers. A specialized subset of #6. I have a true hate/love relationship with cabbies. I despise 90% of them and want to line them all up against a wall and pull a scene from a Quentin Tarantino movie on them, but then one of them completely and totally saves my ass and I mentally reprieve them all. Then the vicious cycle just starts up again.

(8) The price of books. This literally amazed me. Books are ABSURDLY expensive throughout the world. I'm not talking the expense of buying and English language book in the middle of non-English speaking countries here -- I expected those prices would be high. I'm talking about the prices of English books in countries like Australia and New Zealand. Or of Spanish books in South America (not that I could read them anyway). Stunned me. Well, except for SE Asia, where you can buy illegally photocopied books at cheap prices. Then again, you can buy about any intellectual property there at pirate rates.

(9) Everyone speaks more languages than me. I'm an American, which basically means I speak English. That's it. I'm not banging on my country here -- there are some good reasons we don't speak foreign languages here -- the primary one being that the US is damn big and English is the language throughout. If I had clients in Texas and they spoke a different language there (like most Europeans find, when they go 300 miles to do business with someone), I'm sure I'd have a lot better language skills.

(10) The search for a good cup of coffee. You wouldn't think this would be that difficult a task, but 'o my, it can be. Even in some of the best coffee producing countries in the world (Panama and Colombia off the top of my head), it is tough to find a good cup of Joe. Most countries export their good coffee to.... the US, Japan and Western Europe. Pretty much around the world, you are going to be drinking instant coffee most mornings. I hate instant coffee.

Instant coffee verses cabbies. Now there is a battle that I might pay to see.

That being said, damn do I feel inferior when I'm traveling and run across pretty much anyone, seeing as most other travelers speak three or four languages. If I could wave a wand and have any knowledge immediately implanted in my head, it would be the full working knowledge of a couple of foreign languages.

Hmmmmmm. I know I've got a lot more of these small and large pet peeves, but can't think of any more off the top of my head. Then again, I'd love to hear your contributions -- what is not-so-great on the road in your eyes, fellow travelers?

Photo of the Day: Gondolier Break

2010-08-30T15:19:00.000-05:00

From Various old

Photo of the Day: Hoi An Market

2010-08-29T11:28:00.000-05:00

From Hoi An

Kili and my Tattoo

2010-08-26T10:22:00.000-05:00

Climbing Kilimanjaro was the most difficult, and best, thing I've yet done in my 42 years. It was simply incredible. Given that I'd made a promise to myself that I'd get one tattoo per continent, my choice for Africa was simple -- I needed a tattoo of Kili.

So, here is the explanation of this particular tattoo. First, I got it in Budapest. I wanted to get it in Cairo, but by the time I found a tattoo parlor there, I was leaving the next day to go to Dahab to go diving and I clearly didn't want a new tattoo combined with underwater activities.

The route I took (Marangu) is considered the easiest, since you sleep in huts every night. It is also one of the fastest routes up and no doubt the most crowded, though there were only about twenty people trying to summit the night we went to the top. On this route, you leave your last hut at midnight or so, in order to try to make the top of the mountain at sunrise. The tattoo has the date that I made it to the summit and also the Swahili phrase, "Hakuna Matata."

At this point, it is only appropriate to insert the reason this phrase is most commonly known in the United States, via a movie that I've never seen, but heard was quite good -- The Lion King.

Of course when I posted a picture of this new tattoo on my Facebook page last year, I immediately got harassed by my wonderful friends and their truly unique sense of humor. A lot of comments along the lines of "trolling the school yards, these days?" Quite comic.

Here's the real story. My guide was a great guy named Eyan, a local from the village immediately outside the Marangu gates. In fact, after we came down from the mountain, we had lunch at his family's house before heading back to town. He was/is a totally relaxed guy that has gone up the mountain some 200 times or so. Dreadlocks. Chill. Supportive. Everything is going to be just fine.

Ergo, hakuna matata, which roughly translates to "no worries." During the two days we were hiking, before the summit night, Eyan would occasionally toss a 'hakuna matata' my way and I return the same. The hiking wasn't too difficult in the beginning, but I was starting to feel the altitude as we got higher.

I told Eyan on the day that we were hiking up to the last hut (Kibo) that since I wasn't feeling altitude sickness and was in pretty reasonable shape that I was going to make it to the summit. No excuses. No turning back. Doesn't matter how long it is going to take. I also told him that I might end up swearing at myself repeatedly and directing a little self-abuse language at myself, and the mountain, to try to spur me on to the top.

So on the last night, you leave around midnight and climb pretty much straight up 1,000 meters or so, until you get to the top. It was a really tough climb, at least for me. And Eyan was the best guide of all times. Encouraging me. Reminding me to walk slower. Ignoring me when I obviously didn't want to talk. And probably my favorite on the way up:

Eyan: "How are you doing?"

Me after screaming obscenities for the last hour at myself and the mountain: "Hakuna Matata."

Eyan: "Hakuna Matata, motherfucker."

O' yea, we had a theme phrase now. And there was no doubt I was making it to the top with that inspiration. Though I didn't think that probably should be immortalized on my shoulder for all time.

Photo of the Day: My Back

2010-08-25T10:03:00.000-05:00

Where I went and how I got there.

From Various old

Dolphin Video

2010-08-21T10:12:00.002-05:00

Who doesn't love dolphins? Seriously, there is something about them (and whales) that makes everyone happy. These dolphins followed our sailboat for about an hour in the San Blas Islands in Panama. It was amazing. They'd swim in the wake of our boat for a few seconds and then dart ahead full speed in front of the boat.... then circle back around and do it again and again.

The entire LONG sailboat blog. Personally, I think it is a great story, but have 10-20 minutes to finish it off. Great times.

What I wish I knew BEFORE my RTW trip

2010-08-19T13:09:00.000-05:00

It is a bit funny that I finally think I might know enough to put together a well-thought out round-the-world (RTW) trip..... now that I've already done one. The basic things I know now, and didn't before, give me a chuckle when I think about them.

In the hopes of encouraging more people to do more long-term travel and also compile a good list of helpful tools for such travel, I thought I'd write this post.

The things I know now.... that I wish I'd known before.

(1) Join Twitter and Facebook long before you go. Both are incredibly helpful for entirely different reasons. You are going to meet dozens, if not hundreds, of people all around the world. There is no good way to keep track of all their email addresses -- and you are going to want to talk to a lot of them again, if only to pick their brains on travel ideas during your trip. Facebook is the best way of keeping up with people. It is also the best and easiest way for people back home. Quick status updates on where you are. Uploading pictures you have taken. And so forth.

As to Twitter, I now realize there is a huge number of experienced travelers (at every price level of travel) that are out there as resources at a click of a mouse. Meet hundreds of travelers on Travelers' Night In. Going RTW? Try the #rtwsoon or #rtwnow hastag and meet others doing the same thing. The Twitter community is incredibly helpful on tips, suggestions, useful blogs, and other resources for your journey.

(2) The internet is everywhere. I was amazed at how relatively easy it is to get internet access almost everywhere in the world, though certainly there were a lot of spots in Africa that weren't great. I took my laptop with me because I was going to write on the trip, but I'd suggest everyone bring some laptop of little netbook with them. It makes it much easier to edit and upload photos of your trip and you can get wireless at the vast majority of places you are going to stay on your trip.

Speaking of which, here is a big pet peeve of mine. I've stayed at $200+ night hotels that charge for internet and tons of $10 a night hostels that offer free wifi. Get a clue Major Hotel Chains -- you are making plenty on your rooms -- try offering travelers free wireless when they stay at your fancy place.

(3) Stay flexible. I didn't order this tips in order of importance, but probably should have put this at the top of my list. It is inevitable that you are going to learn a lot more about what you want to do/see/experience when you get where you are going. Other people traveling are going to give you a tip about places to go (the only reason I found Cabo Polonio, Uruguay was that I was drinking on a rooftop bar with some Germans and they were going on and on about this great little beach town without electricity. I never would have had it on my route. It was one of the highlights of the trip. If you have a dead-set plan of being in place A one such and such day, then place B three days later, you are going to miss out on some great opportunities.

(4) Anywhere is a good destination. I hit 44 countries on my trip. I had interesting and good memories in all of them, even countries you would never think of as tourist destinations. While seeing some of the great sights in the world (e.g. Angkor Wat, Kilimanjaro, Manchupicchu, the Pyramids, Doubtful Sound) are wonderful and incredible and some of the best sightseeing experiences you will ever have, you are going to also find that meeting cool and interesting people, where ever you are, makes for a good destination. In most cases, the people you meet make or break your trip.

(5) Obviously, I didn't fly at all on my RTW trip, but there are some great resources out there for cheap flights. There is a good debate on whether to buy a RTW airline ticket (and tie yourself in somewhat to a more set schedule), but going back to my Twitter tip above, I sent out a request for blogs on finding cheap airfare on got an immediate reply. Go check out Fox Nomad's Guide to Airfare for a good start on how to save some money on that front.

(6) Take time to rest. I never got sick during my 16 month trip, aside from one bout of traveler's belly for about 5-6 days in Egypt. Obviously that is a large bit of luck (I also eat tons of local food and drink the water most everywhere I go), but I think part of the reason I managed to keep my health was that I took plenty of time to just chill out and rest. It helps that one of my favorite activities is simply having a drink at an outdoor cafe and reading, but a good number of the travelers that I met that got sick frequently seemed to be the ones that had a burning desire to "do something, all the time." Always running around seeing the next sight. And depleting their energy levels and making them more susceptible to illness. Take it with a grain of salt, I don't even play a doctor on TV.

(7) Skype. There is really only one great way to keep in touch with people back home and this is it Skype home page. If you don't have it, download it. If you don't use it, you are throwing away money. Free Skype to Skype computer calls anywhere in the world, including video chat. Incredibly low prices to call any mobile phone or landline from Skype. Just do it -- you won't look back.

(8) Accept that you are going to get ripped off (a lot) and robbed (hopefully not as frequently). Look, it is just going to happen. Cabbies, food vendors, people selling you anything -- they are going to rip you off. Bargain hard, be willing to walk away (the best negotiating tool, in my opinion), stand up for yourself, ask the people working at the hostel what things should cost before you go get them.... but don't let getting charged $4, instead of $1.5 for a cab ruin your day. You laugh now, reading this, but you will be SERIOUSLY pissed off. There is just something about being ripped off, no matter the money involved, that annoys the crap out of almost everyone I know, including me. Dave and I get ripped off in Egypt

As to getting robbed, it happens. It happens on trips to New York City. It happens on trips to Memphis. It happens everywhere. Don't avoid visiting countries/cities (with some exceptions, obviously) based on a fear that you are going to get robbed. Take regular precautions: take taxis if your hostel or hotel people say it isn't safe to walk around, never carry anything on you that you can't get stolen (don't carry your passport around with you), walk to the other side of the street or back in teh opposite direction if you see folks you get a bad vibe from, don't walk around with your nice SLR camera dangling around your neck, and don't walk around drunk at 3 a.m., which seems to be the one that most people fall prey to in the stories I hear.

(9) Eat the local food. You are trying out a new culture. Try the food. You might find some of your new favorites, even if the ingredients, or appearance, aren't things you normally would think you'd like. And try some street food. They normally cook it right in front of you, which actually makes it safer to eat in my book -- since you know it actually IS cooked. Who knows, you could become as addicted to dumplings, or ceviche, or droewors as I became!

(10) Try a hostel. You might think you are too old (you aren't). You might think they are too loud (they can be). You might think they aren't clean enough (it's fine). They are an interesting part of the entire long-travel experience. First, unless you are loaded -- and likely not reading my blog -- you can't stay at nice hotels every night on a long time. It just blows your money away and frankly, you can't always find them in all the place you are hopefully going to go to. If you don't want the dorm rule experience, you can usually get a single or double room in most hostels. They are great ways to meet fellow travelers -- how many people have you ever met at a Hilton or a Hyatt? Try it at least a few times, Just make sure you read the hostel/dorm rules before you go

(11) Try to not have too many expectations. Many of the countries that I never thought I'd like were some of my favorites. Some of the countries I had the highest expectations of fell short and were disappointing. Once I realized that I just needed to temper my preconceived notions and go with the flow a bit more, I tended to enjoy every location even more. It is similar to going to see the incredibly hyped new movie that just came out - how many times do you walk out disappointed?

Have fun. And just do it. Long travel is one of the greatest things I've done in my lifetime. It obviously isn't for everyone, but I think anyone with an open mind and a sense of wonder and adventure would love it. I certainly do -- and I'm ready for more next month.

Would love for folks to add their suggestions down below in the comments section. This is by now means the full list of mine -- just some stuff I jotted off. Add your tips/suggestions for everyone else. Thanks.

Glimpses of Memory

2010-08-16T21:03:00.003-05:00

Since I started traveling in a much bigger way seven or eight years ago, and even more since I took the round-the-world trip, I have these occasional memory moments about once or twice a week. Just a moment ago, I had another.

I was watching some kid kick a soccer ball on a cobblestone street and thought to myself that I had the exact same moment. Some kids were playing soccer in an alleyway. I took out my camera and started taking pictures. One of the kids, the extrovert, then got the soccer ball and started posing for me. Kicking the ball up the air and throwing his hands up.

I have no idea when or where this happened. It is just a memory, lost in time and space. A good one, but lost nonetheless.

Favorite Concerts

2010-08-15T10:30:00.006-05:00

I was having a conversation recently about the best concerts we had seen. And I recalled this was an occasional subject of conversation while traveling -- along with "what was your first concert?" And that can lead to some interesting and amusing answers.

Though I might edit this list if I think of any others that I can't recall now, these are my favorite 5 concerts that I've attended:

1 -- Simon and Garfunkel (1983). Also my first concert. I was late to an appreciation of music. I didn't buy my first album (actually a cassette tape) until I was a sophomore in high school. Simon and Garfunkel did a series of reunion concerts in the mid-80s and my first concert was seeing them outside Washington D.C. Then my second concert was seeing them two days later Dallas. Pretty good start to my concert lifetime.

2 -- Pink Floyd (1988). Another reunion tour, but this time without one of the two major forces behind the band, Roger Waters. He and David Gilmour apparently despise each other with the burning passion of the sun. Didn't inhibit the excellence of the show in Austin.

3 -- U2 (1985). I've seen U2 twice. The first time was back on their Unforgettable Fire tour in Dallas and then saw them much later on their Pop tour in 1997 in Seattle. The first show was the more memorable (The Edge had to sing a bunch of songs in the later tour because Bono's voice was a little blown out) and especially memorable for me because of one of Bono's comments between songs. They had just hit it big time with this album, and were set to be one of the big bands at Live Aid later that year. Bono joked mid-concert to the sell out crowd, "where were all you fans when we played to a half empty show at Billy Bob's two years ago?"

4 -- Eric Clapton (2005). This was a concert tour that got very, very mixed reviews from my friends. I had a number of friends that hated it. I flew out to San Francisco and saw them him out there. I think the main reason that some hated this concert, including about half of the audience that I saw it with, was that they didn't know what Clapton was up to. The first half of the concert was old school blues covers of guys like Robert Johnson and others from decades long gone by. A good number of people around me kept asking: "is that a Clapton song?" Then in the second half of the show, he came out and played pretty much every single one of his greatest hits. I hate it when legends come out and only play a few of their classic songs, and instead play a bunch of songs off their latest album. Frankly, most times the most recent stuff isn't that great -- we came to see you play your time-tested stuff. Clapton did just that. For about two hours.

5 -- Big Head Todd and the Monsters (2008). Went to see them at Red Rocks before I took off on my trip. I really enjoy everything they've done and they put on a hell of a live show. The lead singer's voice is so damn velvety smooth and is a perfect bluesy/rock base voice. Great band and makes the top 5 also because of the venue. Red Rocks is one of the best places to see a concert in the world. Amazing.

I would LOVE to see other's lists of their favorite shows of all time. Thanks!

Portrait of Joy

2010-08-14T08:59:00.006-05:00

From New-Old

This was a totally unexpected portrait shot from the week or so I spent in Zanzibar last summer. Mid-morning one day, I decided to take a long walk on the beach. These three kids were playing in the sand.

I don't speak a word of Kiswahili, but I really wanted to take these kids' picture. I made the somewhat universal hand signal asking them if I could take their pictures. They nodded enthusiastically. I reached down into my pocket and turned back around to take their picture and they were.... dancing. Spontaneously.

It was a moment of unbridled joy. Of the over 10,000 photos that I took on my RTW trip -- this one is clearly my favorite.

This post has been entered into the Grantourismo and HomeAway Holiday-Rentals travel blogging competition at Grantouismo Link for the August Competition. And here is Homeaway's website link.

Photo of the Day: TGIF

2010-08-13T12:40:00.000-05:00

From Munich

It's Friday. Celebrate.

25 Things

2010-08-11T08:55:00.001-05:00

from the Facebook craze last year -- for those that weren't Facebook friends with me back then.

(1) I have two absolute travel necessities: iPod and fingernail clippers. I abso-fucking-lutely cannot stand having almost any white fingernail existing on me at any time.

(2) Until my recent sailboat trip (promise the blog is coming), the last time I threw up was 23 years ago. Freshman year in college. Tequila. Still can't drink it to this day -- actually can't even smell it -- the smell makes me wretch. Oddly, can't drink Scotch either, because to my nose, it smells too much like tequila.

(3) I judge a true best friend by one (admittedly extravagant) criteria: would they do anything for me if I was in serious trouble. I have three people that I feel 100% confident would answer my phone call of "I'm in big, big trouble -- need $10,000 -- and a flight out of the country" by simply answering "where do I wire the money to?". . . . . and I'd do the same for any of them and not need to know why.

(4) I have six ex-girlfriends. And I'm still friends will all of them. They are the 1st people I call, when I screw up with the next woman -- as inevitably happens. Invariably their answer to my call of woe is "seriously. . . you've been screwing up the same exact way for X years."

(5) I have a constant jukebox in my head. And by constant, I really do mean about 100% of the time, some song is playing in my head. Its usually the last song I've heard, but it can also pop up from conversations. You say something like, "need to find a hotel" and my brain might flip over to Hotel California. . . for 5 hours straight. Its annoying and I don't like it. And I also tend to break out and start singing whatever is up there. Randomly.

(6) I can remember every gas station and fast food restaurant just off a highway that I've ever stopped at before. Most every time I pass an exit where I have pulled off sometime in the past, I think to myself, "I've bought gas at that Exxon station before." For the same reason, on routes I travel a lot (Fayetteville to Little Rock, for example), I always try to stop at the same places everytime -- so I have that thought pop into my head as infrequently as possible.

(7) The first song I ever remember hearing was "Renegade" by Styx. In Florida. At a friend's house, whose name I cannot remember. Still like the song today.

(8) I have been in 46 of the 50 states. The omissions are Alaska, Vermont, North Dakota, and Arizona. How the hell I have missed Arizona is still a mystery to me.

(9) I had the only black lab I've ever known that was afraid of the water. He would not swim. He was the greatest dog in the world, lived to be 15 years old, and putting him down was perhaps the toughest decision yet in my life. And I should have done it a year earlier.

(10) I have answered the "how can you represent someone you know is guilty" question about 742 times. But it still doesn't bother me to get asked and explain it all again.

(11) I smoke 5-10 cigars a week. I have never taken a single puff of a cigarette in my life.

(12) I have never used any illegal drug. Don't even like taking pain killers, when prescribed.

(13) I love old, wind-up watches.

(14) I still own my very first car, a 1967 red Mustang.

(15) I built a bocce court in my backyard. My backyard is 80 feet by 25 feet. The court is 60 feet by 10 feet.

(16) I take one month off from drinking every year, usually January.

(17) I've never ridden on a roller coaster. Or eaten peanut butter (I hate the smell). Even when I was a small child. Apparently, I'm anti-American.

(18) I have a horrible, horrible memory for names. It pisses me off, because I find it very disrespectful. My friends know that if I don't introduce them to someone that walks up to me in the 1st five seconds, that they should stick out there hand and introduce themselves, because I've forgotten the name.

(19) I didn't go to law school earlier, because so many people told me that I should.

(20) I got a 7 minute not-guilty verdict from a jury in a criminal drug trial where my guy had confessed. The trial was something out of a Boston Legal script.

(21) I have watched Casablanca more than 100 times. Every line in that movie works perfectly and its one of the funniest movies of all time (go re-watch it and listen for the comic lines. . . "I'm shocked, shocked there is gambling going on in this establishment." "Your winnings, sir" "Well thank you.")

(22) I never tie the laces on my tennis shoes, unless I'm doing something athletic. I've gotten more comments from strangers about my shoes being untied than anything else in my life. By a factor of about 500.

(23) The first funeral I went to was my maternal grandfather's. I gave the eulogy. I didn't know I was going to be asked to do so until the night before. I stayed up all night writing it.

(24) On that topic, I take wedding and rehearsal toasts very, very seriously. One thing that pisses me off to no end are crappy toasts from people at those events.

(25) I only celebrate my prime number birthdays (though I got taunted into throwing a 40th birthday party and drinking much excellent wine).

and one bonus, for my mother:

I can be incredibly stubborn. I slept in a sleeping bag on top of my made bed for about two years when I was 8 or so, because my mother wanted me to make my bed every morning before going to school. I slept in the sleeping bag and then threw the bag in the closet-- and had the made bed there underneath. My mother cooked fried liver once a year and wanted us all to eat it. I hated the smell and texture. So when I was about 6 or so, she cooked it up for us, put it on my plate, I ate one bite and forced myself to throw up at the table. We never ate liver again for dinner. In high school, I got grounded for an entire summer vacation (junior year). In retaliation, aside from going to work everyday, I never left my room, except to eat dinner, and never said anything to my parents except "yes" and "no" to answer direct questions. My father thought the whole thing was quite a relaxing relief, but my mother broke down after about a month and rescinded my grounding.

Photo of the Day: Monks

2010-08-09T10:29:00.003-05:00

From Angkor Wat

One of the many things that I loved about Angkor Wat was that you saw a good number of Monks wandering around taking pictures, looking at everything (and best scene, though no photo, smoking) and generally being tourists.

Photo of the Day: Umayyad Mosque

2010-08-04T10:51:00.002-05:00

From Damascus

In honor of NYC making the correct decision to allow the Cordoba House project to proceed in that great city -- perhaps the most diverse city on the planet -- I thought I'd post a picture of one of the most impressive buildings I saw on my whole trip: Ummayad Mosque

Interestingly, the remains of John the Baptist are reputed to contained here -- and are considered holy by Muslims. Another note of interest is that The minaret in the southeast corner is called the Minaret of Jesus as many Muslims believe that it is here that Jesus will appear at the end of the world.

Wiki entry for Umayyad Mosque

Honoring Shark Week: Video

2010-08-01T18:02:00.001-05:00

My weak video of my attempt to Great White Shark dive in South Africa. An effort that failed, alas. Will have to try again soon.

Ramadan: the County Fair feeling

2010-07-31T23:22:00.002-05:00

From Istanbul

The five pillars of Islam differ slightly between the major sects, but can be basically summarized as: (1) profess monotheism and accept Muhammad as God's messenger, (2) do the five prayers daily, (3) alms to the poor, (4) make the pilgrimage of the hajj, and the one that is relevant to this particular blog (5) to fast at various times, but especially during Ramadan. The last one is the one this particular blog focuses on.

Ramadan is a time for Muslims to fast (during daylight hours) for the sake of Allah and to offer more prayer than usual. During Ramadan, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds.

As it turned out, I was in Istanbul at the beginning of Ramadan last year. On the European side of the Bosporus lie some of Istanbul’s most famous buildings: the Hagia Sophia , the Topkapi Palace, and the iconic Sultanahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque). Immediately next door to the Blue Mosque is a public park, where families congregate in the early evening hours during Ramadan to await sun down. As they wait, they set up their soon-to-be-consumed feasts of food and drink on the tables. All around the park are vendors, selling Turkish food delights. After sundown, the evening call to prayer plays over the loudspeakers of the adjacent mosque and then, the fast is broken and the revelry begins.

The entire thing reminded me a bit of a county fair in the American South. Quite a bit different type of county fair, in that whirling dervishes were some of the main entertainment, but nonetheless, it was that same spirit of community and family that infused the entire place. That and the children, running around with wild abandon. It was a great festival to witness.

This post has been entered into the Grantourismo and HomeAway Holiday-Rentals travel blogging competition at Grantouismo Link

Photo of the Day: Hoi An Market

2010-07-30T10:32:00.001-05:00

From Hoi An

Photo of the Day: Norway

2010-07-27T09:00:00.001-05:00

From Munich

Photo of the Day: Halong Bay, Vietnam

2010-07-25T12:16:00.000-05:00

From Hanoi

Photo of the Day: Petra

2010-07-23T16:08:00.001-05:00

From New-Old

Really loved the colors in this wall

Photo of the Day: Hoi An, Vietnam

2010-07-21T07:15:00.000-05:00

From Hoi An

Photo of the Day: Copan Ruins

2010-07-19T12:31:00.000-05:00

From Copan Ruins

Berlin Blog with added pictures

2010-07-14T13:54:00.002-05:00

Posted this about a year ago, but thought I'd go back and add pictures. Enjoy.

Just in time (almost) for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall, here are some quick notes on Berlin. A city with almost too much to see, Berlin is to easy get around via subway and by walking. It is well worth at least three or four days of exploration. I want to focus on just a few of the sights that are all within very easy walking distance of each other.

In the center of downtown (at the Unter den Linden S-Bahn exit) lies the Brandenberg gate, the triumphal archway under which conquering German armies marched after going to war. It was commissioned by King Fredrick William II in the late 18th century and is probably most famous for its chariot of horses on top, being driven by Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory. Apparently it didn’t provide initial good luck, because Napoleon conquered Prussia just a couple decades later and took the chariot statute and Victoria off to Paris. It was returned a few decades later — after another war, this time won by the Germans.

From Berlin

It is an iconic sight in Berlin. Their is a line in the street on the west side of the gate that shows where the Berlin Wall once ran. The Brandenberg gate was actually in the no-mans zone for those years. Immediately next to the gate is the U.S. Embassy — prime territory in town for one of the conquering Allied powers. Across the way is the French Embassy, in a fairly ugly building that does not refect what I think of when I think France. The prime hotel overlooking these particular sights is the Hotel Adlon, which normally wouldn’t be one any sightseeing agenda, but I can almost guarantee that you have seen it before.

It was from the penthouse suite’s balcony that Michael Jackson dangled his infant child, to the consternation of most of the world watching on television. Ahhhhh, those classic Michael memories.

Right around the corner is the Reichstag, which houses the German Parliament. The building is suitably picture-worthy, but it is the addition that that building that is the real draw. Before the legislative seat of government of Germany was moved back to Berlin, post re-unification, a large glass dome was added to the top of the building. From inside, you can actually see down to the floor of Parliament and see government in action. It really does look like sausage after all. Lines are long to get in — better to go first thing or last thing in the day. Views from up top are spectacular.

From Berlin

Immediately south of the U.S. Embassy and Brandenberg Gate is one of the most moving places I’ve seen on my entire trip: the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Often mis-indentified as the “Holocaust Museum,” the correct in-your-face name gives an accurate impression of what this site is all about. On the surface of the city block that the memorial occupies are the iconic 2,711 huge stone block that you have no doubt seen pictures of. They stand at various heights and are neatly organized in rows that take up almost the entire block. The architect of the project, Peter Eisenman, has never given any interview explaning what feelings he meant to convey with the design. Walking through the field, taking pictures of the stones with the shadows cast upon them, and seeing others walking in and out of your field of vision is interesting. I wish I had a better word for it, but that’s all I’ve got.

Underground in the small museum. Admission is free and although I hate to be the type of blogger that says “you must do this or that,” you really should take a hour or two out and go downstairs. There are only about five rooms down there. One hallway has the basic history and time line of the Holocaust. One room has maps and pictures of every concentration camps — and there were a lot more than I ever though. One room details how many Jews were killed from each country. But it was two of the rooms that set me back the most.

From Berlin

There is a room where the histories of 12-15 families are laid out. Family photos are on display. Letters. Descriptions of each of the members of the family: ages, professions, schooling, and so on. And then a full explanation of when the Nazis took them to their concentration camp(s) and how they died. Entire families. From Germany, France, Lativa, Russa, Bulgaria, and so many others. Among the reality of millions of murdered Jews — seeing these families stories brought it down to a level I hadn’t thought of before.

From Berlin

The Room of Names is a simple place with no photographs or other displays. One each of the four walls, a person’s name and biographical data is projected. Over the loudspeakers in the room, using information compiled by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, an annoucer somberly and briefly details the life, and death, of the person whose name is projected on the wall. On a continuous loop. There are about 700 such brief biographies being looped now and the project aims to expand that to several thousand. When I was there, two women sat on one of the benches crying. They weren’t alone.

I walked out that morning with one thought in my head — I just don’t understand. I don’t mean that in a disrepectful way at all. I certainly understand the facts and details of the Holocaust and the museum was an incredible jolt to my soul. But I don’t understand how people can do that to each other.

On this trip, I’ve been through Uganda, Germany, Cambodia, Sudan and skirted Bosnia. Genocides have happened for thousands of years in a variety of places and are certain to happen again in the future. I am, or at least was, a criminal defense lawyer. I can comprehend murder. Murder for greed, or anger, or jealousy or any of the other thousands of reasons it happens every day does make sense to me — I dispise it, but I can at least comprehend it.

I just cannot comprehend the systematic killing of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or in the Holocaust’s case, millions of people because of their religion, or tribe, or educational background or the other means of weeding out who “must die.” One murderer or a small gang of murderers is something I can get my head around — but genocide is carried out by thousands and thousands of people, at the highest levels of power in their government. How do they get to that point? How is it possible to convince that many people to do something that unspeakably horrible? In the end, I supposed I’m glad that I cannot understand it at all, but I do understand, and believe, in the inscription on the wall I read that day.

“It happened, therefore it can happen again: this is the core of what we have to say.” from Primo Levi, The Drowned and the Saved (I sommersi e i salvati. Turin 1986), Simon and Schuster, New York.

Primo Levi, born in 1919 in Turin, was a chemist. As a member of the Italian resistance, he was arrested in 1944 and deported to Auschwitz. He survived and began in 1945, directly after his return, to write. In 1987 Primo Levi committed suicide.

From Berlin

Quirks of Travel Time

2010-07-14T10:19:00.006-05:00

I like odd things. Oddities are one of the big reason I love travel as much as I do. Strange food. Unusual places. Different cultures. Things that work differently than back home. Things that don't work at all. New sports to enjoy.

It is, for the most part, the differences that make me smile most days. That keep me on my toes. They are one of the main reasons I want to travel indefinately and see how much of everything I can see, with the time I've got.

One unexpected oddity was time. You would think that amongst all the newness and uncertainty involved in world travel that time would remain a constant that you could rely on. Not so fast, Madam.

Here are some of the time travel weirdness that I found on my trip:

(1) China is one entire time zone, from one end of the country to another. I'll try to place this in perspective for those of you that haven't been there. China is big. Really big. It is the third largest country in the world. It is hard to get exact distances from the websites I've seen, but from east to west, it is basically the same size as the continental United States.

Imagine working and living in Los Angeles. You need to be at work at 8 a.m. Except 8 a.m. is now essentially three hours earlier -- a couple hours before sunrise. That's what you would have to put up with if you lived in Western China.

(2) All train schedules in Russia operate on Moscow time. This is one that inevitably trips up a traveler or two taking the Trans-Siberian railroad. You get off the train in Irkutsk to stay a couple days there. Your train ticket says that the train leaves on Tuesday at two in the afternoon. Except that is two in the afternoon in Moscow -- where you are now, that is seven in the evening. If you train ticket says you get in at 9 p.m. and you think you are going to find a hostel to stay in that evening when you arrive -- it's really 2 a.m. local time when you get in.

Going into the various train stations is one of the more odd experiences with time you have anywhere. You might have just come from a bar, where the clocks on the wall say one thing, but when you get to the station, all the clocks in there are on Moscow time. Walking through the doors is walking into a mini-time machine.

And FYI -- Russia has nine time zones.

(3) North/South time zone changes. I realize there are a few places in the States where you can go north/south and change a time zone (for instance going from El Paso north to New Mexico), but I still find it odd to move forward or back in time when not moving east or west.

The bus going south from Peru to Chile was my best example on this trip. When we crossed the border, we moved forward not just one, but two hours. I almost got jet lag.

(4) Half-time zones. There seems to be a reason for some of these various time oddities, but this one completely baffles me. There are a variety of places around the world where you only jump a half-hour when you cross over a time zone. No idea why this is the case, but think about how that affects things like national television programing and the like. Makes no sense to me, but I ran into it in the middle of Australia.

Would love to hear some of your stories about oddities in time on the road.

From Uluru and area

EDIT FROM AMANDA'S COMMENT:

Totally forgot time oddity (5) - the International Date Line. As most of you know, I crossed the Pacific by ocean freighter, so the time line was particularly interesting. I didn't just fly over it quickly, we crossed it slowly and then I... had my second chance at March 28, 2010. I had two full, twenty-four hour March 28ths this year.

On March 28th, first try, the highlight was watching The Godfather, Part I. You can imagine that the highlight of March 28th, second try, was going to be The Godfather, Part II, which I did watch, but the memorable part of that day was actually busting my head open and making my one and only trip to the boat hospital. It wasn't a big deal, but I found it somehow appropriate that I got a little punishment for being totally unproductive twice... on the same day.

Thanks Amanda for the reminder!

Photo of the Day: Sunset Mid-Ocean

2010-07-13T18:59:00.001-05:00

From Sunsets

Photo of the Day: Graffiti

2010-07-12T14:15:00.001-05:00

From New-Old

Check out the bottom of this picture -- British graffiti in Luxor, Egypt. Kinda made me laugh a little bit.

The Kindness of Strangers (or not)

2010-07-10T11:41:00.001-05:00

I haven't written in a while -- having to deal with real world stuff. Water pipe burst at my house and been dealing with moderate water damage, and more importantly, annoying insurance people that don't want to cover it. Trying to sort out a few short trips this month and next. Seeing if I can get organized to go back to South America in September for the rest of the year. But all of that is boring -- let's get back to travel stories.

One of the many great things about travel is putting yourself partly at the whims of kindness of strangers. Sometimes that is good. . . sometimes bad, but it is always a good fodder for entertainment. On my trip, I've had a large dose of good fortune and a small bit of bad fortune in depending on the kindness of strangers. Here are some of the stories:

My best bit of good fortune on the trip were the South African and British bikers that completely saved me at the Ethiopian border. It took me three exhausting days to get overland from Nairobi to the border -- one day on a bus and two days hitchhiking on top of a cargo truck down the worst road on the entire trip. When I got to the border, I found out that the information that the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi had told me about getting an Ethiopian visa was incorrect. . . and the Ethiopian border agents wanted me to return all the way back to Nairobi to get my visa. Not an option. Here's the story of the charitable bikers that simply saved my ass.

Massive border problems, and help, at Kenya/Ethiopia

When I finally got into Ethiopia, I had a number of problems I had to deal with, most importantly, I still needed to get a visa in Addis Ababa (since I was worried about getting out of there and also worried about getting arrested for being in-country with no valid visa) and another problem I didn't anticipate -- I needed U.S. dollars but had no way to get them. Here is the story of my personal cab driver that came to my rescue on many fronts.

A savior cabbie in Ethiopia

No compilation of stories about the kindness of strangers would be complete without talking about the nicest people in the world, the Kiwis.

Hitchhiking in New Zealand

One of the things that totally opened my eyes on this trip was the vast internet travel community out there (including hundreds of great bloggers) that are ready to step up and provide answers to questions, help and general support. Twitter. Facebook. Direct emails to bloggers you've never laid eyes on before. The Thorn Tree Forum on Lonely Planet's website. The resources, and great people, are everywhere. Here's the story of the stranger in Norway that helped me find my way to the top of the world, before it all got iced over for winter:

Help from an Internet Stranger

I have said for a long time that I have a complete hate/love relationship with cabbies. I hate 9 of every 10, but then the 10th one comes along and ends up being the most helpful person on the planet. While I was in Uruguay, I got an email from my cargo freighter travel agent that my ship was leaving early and I had to haul ass to get to the port or I would miss it. Here's the cabbie that got me across the border in the middle of the night:

Another savior cabbie, in Brasil

Unfortunately, it isn't all wine and roses from strangers out there. Most every third world country you go to has a variety of scam artists out to try to get into you wallet. And not every stranger offering help has altruism in their heart. But those experiences are simply a part of travel -- and sometimes provide the best stories.

When my friend Dave came to visit me in Egypt, we wandered around the Arab Quarter of town in search of good photographs (which are plentiful) and some good local food. We ran into a food scam that we both should have known to avoid:

Rip off in Egypt

The last story I'll share on this theme is one of my favorites from the trip, though it didn't happen to me. There was a British guy named Mark that I traveled with for about a week or so. He, like me, didn't speak any Spanish before he got to Central America. As you will find when you are out there, when people come up to you and start speaking in a foreign language, for some reason, you invariably end up nodding a lot and saying "yes" in whatever the local language is. I guess it is just a form of general politeness, but everyone ends up doing it.

In this case, Mark was going back to his hostel in Panama at about 1 a.m. after an evening of drinking. A local guy walked up and engaged him in conversation, mostly Spanish, with some sign language and a bit of English thrown in. It went something like this:

Stranger to Mark: "Hostel or hotel?"

Mark, thinking the stranger was going to help him find his way: "Hostel amigo, that way [pointing]"

"Ahhh, hostel, si, si." As the stranger starts walking with Mark and then he asks Mark three or four questions and Mark has no earthy idea what is being asked.

"Si, si."

When they got back to the hostel, Mark turned to the stranger and said, "Ahhh, mi hostel. Gracias," and started to walk inside. The stranger followed him. "No, no -- this my hostel."

"Si, si" said the stranger smiling and made a hand motion of what was apparently agreed to in the series of questions that Mark blindly answered yes to.

"NO, NO. Me like-a the chicas! Not the amigos! Me like chicas!!"

And off walked a very disappointed local guy that thought Mark had agreed to a night of passion. In this case. . . a stranger that was perfectly willing to provide a little. . . kindness.

Photo of the Day: News in the Desert

2010-07-10T09:06:00.004-05:00

When I was in Namibia, I took a three day trip down to the Namib Park dunes. Right outside the park was the tiny, tiny town of Solitaire. It was one of those seven building sleepy towns. We stopped at the gas station to fill up and get some soft drinks for the campsite. This sign was the daily news in town.

Photo of the Day: Ethiopia Child

2010-07-08T16:06:00.002-05:00

From Ethiopia Misc

Photo of the Day: San Gimignano

2010-07-03T10:48:00.003-05:00

From Various old

Click for info on San Gimignano, Italy

Photo of the Day: Sunset at Sea

2010-06-30T11:39:00.001-05:00

From Sunsets

VIdeo of the Day: Wellington Sevens

2010-06-27T17:16:00.008-05:00

One of the incredibly fun events I was able to stumble across on my trip was the Wellington Sevens Rugby Tournament. It is an international tournament of seven-man rugby teams. The great thing, aside from the action, is that almost all the fans show up in full costume. Incredible party weekend.

My blogs about it are here:

Heard and Seen - with great pics -- First blog on Wellington Sevens

More Heard... Second Blog on Wellington Sevens

and another of the full band outside the stadium, in costume of course:

and here is a short video of some of the party in the harbour:

((sorry -- video problem -- will re-upload))

Photo of the Day: Guatamala market

2010-06-23T19:40:00.001-05:00

From New-Old

Photo of the Day: Cute Kid (Germany)

2010-06-17T13:57:00.001-05:00

From Various old

how cute is this kid??!!

Photo of the Day: Coloseum at Night

2010-06-16T10:04:00.000-05:00

From Various old

Photo of the Day: At the Museum

2010-06-15T08:49:00.001-05:00

From and earlier trip to Europe. Just loved the framing of this look at people looking at art. Makes me smile.

Photo of the Day: Brandenburg Gate

2010-06-14T09:49:00.001-05:00

From Berlin

In Berlin. Heard great things about Berlin before I went. Everyone was right. A wonderful town to go hang out in, and tons of stuff to see.

Photo of the Day: Budapest

2010-06-13T11:42:00.000-05:00

From Budapest

back to back days of Budapest photos

Photo of the Day: Budapest

2010-06-12T12:02:00.001-05:00

From Budapest

Photo of the Day: Octoberfest

2010-06-11T13:44:00.000-05:00

From Munich

Beer please!

Photo of the Day: Uluru

2010-06-10T12:51:00.000-05:00

From Uluru and area

Not one of the "classic" Uluru shots, but I liked this one.

Photo of the Day: Great Ocean Road

2010-06-08T09:28:00.000-05:00

From Great Ocean Road

near Melbourne, Australia

Photo of the Day: On TOP of a cargo truck

2010-06-06T17:19:00.003-05:00

This was far from one of the best pictures I took on the trip, but the story is one that I will never forget. There is no public transportation if you want to go from Kenya to Ethiopia -- overland, that is. So if you are going that way, you have to hitch a ride on a three ton cargo lorry going that way. Where do you ride?? Up top, just like my fellow local travelers are doing in this picture, right before I hopped back up on my spot on the metal bars.

And FYI, I got to ride this truck for about 18 hours, over two days. Interesting days.

Photo of the Day: Hoi An, Vietnam

2010-06-04T22:40:00.002-05:00

From Hoi An

these kids were mega-cute. And weren't posing for me. I was across the street with a telephoto lens. They were just having fun.

Photo of the Day: Copan Ruins, Honduras

2010-06-02T10:17:00.001-05:00

From Copan Ruins

Whoops -- originally posted wrong country. Damn.

Photo of the Day: Sunset, Chobe Park

2010-05-31T15:29:00.000-05:00

From Chobe National Park

Chobe National Park, Botswana. Great place to see elephants.

Travel Tip: Know your Banker

2010-05-30T16:13:00.008-05:00

I have been back in the States now for over a month and thought, with a bit of reflection, that it might be a good time for me to start blogging about some travel suggestions I have for people that are about to do some international traveling. My first tip in this area applies to everyone -- backpackers, rich tourists on guided tours, and everyone in between.

Know your banker.

When I say, know your banker, I mean that you need to know an actual person at your bank that is going to help you if something goes wrong. You need to have met them before in person, and preferably bought them food and/or drinks. You need their personal email. The email account they will look at on the weekends or in non-business hours. Your banker might not be your friend now, but he or she should be soon. Then can save you from travel hell.

My bank friend is Donna with the Bank of Fayetteville. The Bank of Fayetteville (BoF) is a very small bank in my adopted hometown of Fayetteville, Arkansas. They have all of five branches, I believe. I doubt they are one of the 300 largest banks in the United States, but in these times, size actually does not matter in terms of banking. My ATM/credit card with the BoF operates on the Shazam, Pulse, Cirrus and VISA networks. I was able to use it successfully all around the world. There is no need to have your money at a big bank these days, in order to get money out while you travel.

The advantage to banking at a smaller bank is that I actually know the people I bank with, and more importantly, they know me and will help me immediately if I have a problem. On this trip, I either lost or had stolen my credit cards on three different occasions. Each time it happened, I emailed Donna, she had the card immediately canceled and then shipped a new card out to me (along with the paperwork to report any fraudulent charges incurred). Since I was moving around without reservations, having a card shipped to me wasn't that easy, but she always immediately replied to my emails and sorted out the details of the when and wheres.

When I was having horrible problems finding US Dollars in Ethiopia (Money and other issues in Ethiopia), Donna was talking to Western Union contacts in the States about finding a way to get me US Dollars. She couldn't, ergo my visits to the black market in that linked blog, but she was great for trying. When both my credit cards were stolen from a Bangkok hotel room when I wasn't there and each had thousands of dollars of fraudulent charges incurred before I discovered their disappearance, Donna did up the paperwork for me back home and made sure none of charges passed through to me -- my other credit card with the mega-bank Citibank said everything was fine, only to threaten to sue me for more than $8,000 once I got back -- a situation that is still not resolved. I was never in a money situation where I needed any money wired to me, but Donna and I talked about that possibility before I left and she was ready to push that contingency through, if need be.

Seriously, I think it is vital to know your banker. Personally, I suggest banking in a small bank also, because meeting someone that is going to be your person at Citibank or Barcleys isn't going to happen. You might not need this travel tip -- I hope you never run into a money crisis on the road -- but if you do get into any sticky situations, like many travelers I met have happen, knowing an actual person at your bank is a godsend.

p.s. I just went to her wedding yesterday. She is also a beautiful bride. Public thanks to one of my travel saviors!

Photo of the Day: Bullfight

2010-05-27T17:02:00.001-05:00

From Bullfighting in Medellin

brutal, brutal sport, but there is quite a bit of beauty in it also. This shot was from Medellin, Colombia

Border Crossing via Video

2010-05-24T11:21:00.004-05:00

The phrase "TIA" (This is Africa) was made popular in the States by the movie "Blood Diamond," of which, as a sidenote, I was a pretty big fan of. Check it out if you haven't seen it. Blood Diamond movie trailers

TIA basically is just a way of saying that things work, or more often don't work, differently there than anywhere else in the world. I absolutely love Africa, but it is such a non-functional place. I'm not talking about South Africa or Egypt or being on a guided safari -- I'm talking about Africa. Chaos is just the general rule you have to deal with and while it can be exasperating, frequently exasperating, if you just keep TIA in mind, you can end up loving it.

And example was the border crossing we did from Botswana to Zambia, over the Zambezi River -- one of the great rivers in the world. Zambezi River Our safari guide/driver warned us that the crossing might be chaotic. You check out of Botswana, take a ferry across the river, and check into Zambia on that side. He warned us that it might end up taking a couple hours.

We checked out of Botswana with no problem and got on the ferry. Our safari truck didn't fit on the ferry with us, so we went over first. When we got to the Zambia side, we went through immigration. Easy. Simple. No problem at all. Maybe took five minutes for all ten of us. I turned to my companions and said, "well that was easy -- guess we are getting lucky at this border."

Needless to say, that was spoken too quickly. Our truck was on the other side. The ferry ended up breaking down right after we arrived and it broke down right were you offload in Zambia, so they couldn't even use the other ferry. It took about three hours for that problem to get solved and for our truck, and driver, to make it across. Once he got across, he had some problem with the paperwork for the truck. They wouldn't let the truck into the country. Five hours later. . . they still wouldn't let the truck into the country. He ended up taking the ferry back to Botswana, driving east and north a couple hundred miles, and entering the country at an entirely different border. Before he left us, he arranged for a van to come pick us up from the town near Victoria Falls we were staying at for a few nights.

We ended up spending something like eight or nine hours at this border, just sitting around. Luckily, there was a shanty town set up right around the corner and a few of us hopped over there a couple times to wander around and have a beer or two at what passed for the local bar. And in the end, we did make it to Victoria Falls and ended up buying our driver a couple beers much later that night, when he finally arrived from his odyssey.

TIA.

Mid-day, after they got the ferry working again, I jumped on top of our truck to take a video of the scene. Africa -- it's sometimes hard to explain to people that haven't been there.

Photo of the Day: Stone Town, Zanzibar

2010-05-23T13:25:00.001-05:00

From Stone Town

I just loved this shot of people sitting outside watching TV in one of the many common areas in and amongst the alleyways of Stone Town.

Photo of the Day: San Gimignano, Italy

2010-05-20T07:53:00.001-05:00

From Various old

Close Mindedness

2010-05-18T11:49:00.003-05:00

I guess I should preface this semi-rant by saying I am one of the least judgmental people on the planet. Whatever floats your boat, as long as it isn't hurting others, is fine by me. But I'm really never going to be much of a fan of intolerance and the intolerant.

A few days ago, I was having lunch with a couple of my friends that I hadn't seen since I got back. We were chatting about places I went to, liked, disliked and all the post-trip talk that I've become used to (and enjoy -- I like talking to people about traveling, in the hope they will do more). A mutual friend of ours came in and took a seat next to us and asked the almost-automatic first question I get these days: "Where was your favorite place?"

Considering I was gone sixteen months and went to forty-four countries (and really liked all but about three of them), this is a toughie, but how I now generally answer it is, "well, loved tons of them, but for a suggestion of a great spot for a couple week vacation, I'd say Turkey, Namibia, Panama, Cambodia or New Zealand." I don't remember which of these I tossed out to him, but Turkey was one of them.

He frowned immediately upon hearing Turkey and so I asked if he had been there. He said he had and that he really disliked it. Upon my asking why, he said that he didn't like the dirtiness and the call to prayer bothered him. I had totally forgotten he was a very conservative Christian -- the type that wore it on his sleeve.

Personally, I have no idea how anyone could dislike the call to prayer. It is haunting and beautiful. Admittedly, the first call is at about 5:15 in the morning, but still, it is one of the true trip highlights for me in my entire journey. In case you haven't heard it -- here is the best one I heard on the entire trip. The early morning call in Stone Town, Zanzibar, right next to the hostel I was staying at. There is obviously nothing to the video, but take a listen.

What became quickly clear from talking to him was that it wasn't the cleanliness (I didn't see Instanbul as a dirty city at all) or the wake up to the call to prayer or any of that that he didn't like -- he just didn't like that everyone was Muslim. I made some comment about loving Syria and all of the Middle East and feeling amazingly safe there and got back from him a reply that was basically, "but they are all trying to kill us."

It was time to move the conversation to something else, before I said something offensive.

I do understand that people have different comfort levels in different places. The crazy hectic pace of Vietnam turns a lot of people off. The lack of personal space in Africa strikes some the wrong way. The rudeness of New Yorkers is certainly no turn-on. And so on and so forth, but for some reason this particular conversation just made me internally shudder a bit. There is a great big, fun, exciting world out there to explore, but a good bit of the greatness will be missed unless you are willing to check some of your long-held prejudices at the door and go experience a place with an open mind. You might not like what you see, hear, smell or experience, but at least go into it with an open mind. I just got the sense that he went there knowing he wouldn't like it already -- for all the wrong reasons.

Sunset at Halong Bay, Vietnam

2010-05-17T10:29:00.000-05:00

From Hanoi

Photo of the Day: Chicken Buses

2010-05-12T11:07:00.000-05:00

From Chicken Buses

nothing better than a good Nicaraguan chicken bus. If you haven't ridden one yet. . .you haven't traveled.

How the rest of the world sees the U.S.

2010-05-10T15:08:00.002-05:00

From New-Old

kinda funny -- love the corporate images

Photo of the Day: Budapest market

2010-05-09T11:54:00.001-05:00

From Budapest

all about the color.

Photo of the Day: Uluru up close

2010-05-08T12:35:00.000-05:00

From Uluru and area

My last couple weeks in New Zealand

2010-05-07T11:07:00.008-05:00

There were a number of places on the North Island I had yet to see and in Auckland, I decided to do a quick week long bus trip with a company called Stray to hit some of the highlights. Given how many of these blogs I have written on the freighter about all the things I did in New Zealand, so here are is really quick rundown.

Surfing lessons in Ragland. A traditional Maori evening in Whakatane, where, as the oldest member of our bus tour (high honor, that), I was ‘elected’ our Chief for the evening and had to lead a haka war dance with the other male members of our bus.

From there, with about a week to go before my long boat ride home, I decided to spend my remaining time in two ways: scuba diving north of Auckland, in the Poor Knights Islands (of which Jacques Cousteau said was one of the top 10 dive spots in the world
Poor Knights Island) and then back to Auckland for a few last poker days. The diving was considerably better than the poker, unfortunately.

My housing for my camera I’ve taken underwater a few times on this trip didn’t survive the backpack, so I wasn’t able to take any pictures, but the diving was great. It was the only non-tropical diving I got to do on this journey. Forests of kelp. The biggest underwater cave in the world. Four different types of moray eels. And the highlight of my couple dives – a stingray that swam with us for about five minutes. It was a great dive site and considering the area has fifty or so different dive sites, it is a place well worth multiple days of diving.

The poker back in Auckland, on the other hand, was not a highlight. The most amusing thing about my trips to the casino was that I was initially turned away from the door. I have very few articles of clothing that have made it all the way around the world, but the two pairs of pants I started the trip with are still with me, a pair of jeans and another pair of khakis. But after more than a year of use, both of them are looking quite shabby at this point, and according to the people at the casino door, you can’t get in with “ripped pants.” All four knees of both of my pants are ripped through, so I actually had to go buy a new pair of jeans just to play.

All the way around the world without having to buy any pants along with the way. . . just to break down and buy a pair three days before I left to go home. ‘O yea, and my laptop finally completely crapped out and I bought a new laptop about an hour before I boarded the boat on my last day as well. So close.

Photo of the Day: Capidocia, Turkey

2010-05-06T19:51:00.001-05:00

From Capadocia

Such a wonderful place. One of my top 5 suggestions when people ask me, "what country should I go visit?"

Whale watch in Kaikoura

2010-05-06T10:48:00.004-05:00

Quick trip down to Invercargill, then back up to the winery area east of Queenstown and south of Wanaka, on the way back up there. Turns out that Kate had some very handy connections in the winery trade, since her brother-in-law runs on of the nicest restaurants in Auckland, so I followed her around for a couple days while she smoozed with various wine making friends and I stood by with a glass in hand. Another bit of good fortune in my hand.

After a couple more days in Wanaka, including one excellent night of karaoke featuring an excellent group rendition, or at least a very loud one, of Bohemian Rhapsody, I moved on to Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island by far. Played a little poker there at the local casino and hung out for a few days, then took the short train ride up to Kaikoura (My favorite tour guide, younger division).

I was only in Kaikoura for a little more than 24 hours and had only one goal in this tiny village – to go on a whale watch trip and see at least one behemoth. The coast of Kaikoura is one of the unique areas (yes, another unique natural wonder in New Zealand) in the world, since just a few miles off shore lies the Hikurangi Trench (Hikurangi Trench). It is essentially an extremely deep trench that goes to depths of 3,750 meters (12,300 feet) just a couple miles offshore – deep blue ocean depths. As a result there are sperm whales in this area year-round, and numerous other species that are migrating back and forth between the Antarctic waters and the tropical waters closer to the Equator at different parts of the year.

Sperm whales are pretty fascinating creatures -- the world's largest predator, as one example. It dives up to 3 kilometers (9,800 feet) to hunt. The can dive for up to 90 minutes. Amazing. The guys on the boat said that old whalers called it a sperm whale, because they thought the big cavity in its head was full of sperm. Not sure that is the truth, but pretty funny regardless. Its ribcage is flexible and collapses during dives, due to the seriously high pressures at the depths it goes to. Its favorite food is giant squid and supposedly some of the battles between those two massive creatures at thousands of feet under water are. . . wait for it. . . legendary.

Sperm Whale info

On my boat trip out, I was lucky enough to see two different sperm whales. Unlike some other whales, you don’t see much of a sperm whale on the surface, but when they make their deep dive you can get the quintessential shot of the whale’s tale, but of course my photo editing program is down right now, so I'll have to upload those pics later.

After the whale watch, I grabbed an evening bus back to Picton, the overnight ferry back to Wellington, and then an all-day bus up to Auckland. Then a day of needed rest.

Milford and Doubtful Sounds

2010-05-04T11:18:00.006-05:00

Te Anau is on the shores of Lake Te Anau, which is the largest lake by volume in New Zealand (bringing 'ya the completely useless trivia). Continuing on the trivial water theme – Lake Te Anau empties into Lake Manapouri, which is only 10 kilometers from Doubtful Sound. The lakes are at few hundred meters above sea level, and obviously Doubtful Sound is at sea level. Because of the height difference, they were able to construct the world’s largest non-dam hydroelectric plant.

Normal hydroelectric projects dam up rivers, create lakes behind them, and then let out water from the bottom of the lake through the dam passing through turbines, which rotate and create electricity. Because of the heights of these lakes, there was no need to construct a dam – they just dug a tunnel from the lake down to the Sound, and pass the water through turbines on the way down to create the electricity. It not only is the largest non-dam hydro electrical project in the world, it creates an absurdly high percentage of New Zealand’s energy, but of course I can't find the exact number right now. I recall being told something like 60%. Manapouri Hydroelectric Power Station

Te Anu is the gateway to Milford and Doubtful Sounds, which are two of the more magnificent natural wonders, in a country full of them. Continuing with the trivia today – New Zealand and Norway are the only two countries in the world that have fjords, which are large, deep cuts of oceanside land carved out by glaciers. Sounds are actually something geologically different than fjords, but all the fjords in New Zealand were named "Sounds" originally, so the names stuck. To rectify their vocabulary oversight, when this whole area was made into a huge national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, they named the area the Fiordlands, compounding their error by misspelling fjord.

New Zealand's Fiordlands

Milford Sound is much more visited than Doubtful Sound. There is a road that heads north from Te Anu then turns west through the 1.2 kilometer long Great Naked Homer Tunnel Race -- where they annually have the Homer Tunnel race each summer -- which is a nude race through the tunnel. Runners used to be able to wear shoes or a headlamp, but after a few injuries, the rules have loosened up in recent years and you can wear both shoes and a headlamp now. Some people race seriously, or at least as seriously as you can naked, and even more slowly race down with beers in hand. At the end, there is a naked Barbie doll and naked Ken doll given to the fastest female and male racers respectively. And a group photo of all the racers in their racing attire, of course. And no, I don’t have the imagination to make all of this stuff up.

Naked Tunnel Race

Instead of doing one of the many boat cruises or airplane tours of Milford Sound (the tiny little Milford Sound airport is the second busiest airport in New Zealand, only trailing Auckland’s for number of flights per year), I did a one-day kayak tour. Obviously, you can’t see as much of the Sound at kayak speed, but you don’t need to cover much ground to appreciate the beauty of the place. The weather started nice enough for us, but the wind and the rain picked up as we started paddling out and it turned into a little bit of a dicey ride. No one flipped their kayak over, but the waves and wind made it some tough going for us novices. On the flip side, some dolphins swam with us for a bit and the sights were great.

The next day I left for a two day kayak trip in the much less visited, and therefore much more peaceful Doubtful Sound, which was clearly my favorite between the two. It rained slowly but fairly consistently on day one, but the winds were down and we managed about 10 kilometers. We camped that night and there is only one thing anyone can remember about being on land in this part of New Zealand – sand flies. You have never experienced anything like them. ‘O, I know what those of you in Arkansas are saying – “there is no way they are worse than the mosquitoes in the Delta.” Well, I’ve been there, done that. There is absolutely no comparison; the sand flies win in a bite-off. And it’s not even close. I’ve never been attacked like that in my life. Inside your enclosed tent or the permanent tent they kayak company had at the site where you ate and drank was safe, but expose any amount of flesh to these beasts in between at your own peril.

This is also the only part of the world I went to on this trip where I would give the following advice: you want to try to go there when it is raining. Clear, sunny, dry weather is fine – the landscape is fantastic to look at. But if you want to see the Sounds in all their glory, you need to go during or after a good, long rain. Since they are carved almost vertically out of the land, there is very little land on top of the mountains to hold water. Sure, there are some small lakes and streams up there, which permanently provide a few waterfalls to look at while you are on the sounds, but during or immediately after a good bit of rain, there are literally hundreds of waterfalls. They come from everywhere. It is spectacular, though they dry up quickly. At the end of day one of the kayaking on Doubtful Sound the rain stopped and day two was completely rain free. There were probably 90% fewer waterfalls visible on the second day compared to the first. Root for “bad” weather.

I got back to Te Anu and went out for dinner and drinks with my new kayaking friends at a nice little place in town. A local guitarist was playing in the bar area and the place was packed. Dinner was good, though pricey (this is not a cheap country), and the night was capped off with yet another first for me – my first hitchhike ride without sticking out a thumb. An American named Kate was hanging out in the bar with us and heard I was headed south to Invercargill the next morning and she was headed that way also. After being assured by my new kayaking friends that I wasn’t an axe murderer, she decided to allow her first hitchhiker and drive me down, once we all pointed out that Kiwis do this all the time – you see, she is planning on moving to New Zealand this year, so we were all just helping to localize her.

Photo of the Day: Under the Red Sea

2010-05-02T09:50:00.001-05:00

From More scuba pics

Wanaka to Queenstown

2010-04-28T09:57:00.003-05:00

Wanaka ended up being my favorite town in New Zealand. Big enough to have plenty of places to eat, shop and stay, but small enough to be completely walkable. It is perched next two one of the two large glacier-formed lakes in the area, and also at the base of some beautiful surrounding mountains. Although I find the place a worthwhile destination in the summer, its claim to fame is as a winter destination, with a number of ski resorts within close proximity. In fact, almost all of the New Zealand Winter Olympic athletes live here.

This was the town that I ran into Nicole, after not seeing or talking to her in the year since we’d originally met in Ecuador (It's a Small World). I liked it so much that I ended up staying here for 3-4 days on two separate occasions, coming back here after doing a brief circuit to Milford and Doubtful Sounds and to Invercargill on the southern edge of the country. It was also the two with the great little local movie theater I wrote about a while back (Movie Time in New Zealand).

Before I left for the first time, I did finally get perfect weather for my first skydive. Good stuff. Surprisingly a completely different feeling than bungee jumping, which is much more frightening. If you are going to do one, go ahead and do both for the comparison. In tandem skydiving, you are so far from the ground, you don’t get that feeling you get bungee jumping off a bridge, where you can see the ground that your mind is telling you that you are soon going to hit. Plus, in bungee, you are on your own – you have to make the commitment to actually jump. It is odd to put your legs out of an open door in an airplane, but once you are there, the pro strapped to your back is getting you out of that plane with no assistance or input from you.

After that excitement – that same afternoon actually – I stuck my thumb out again and ended up quickly getting a ride from Brit living and working back up in the Nelson area I had visited a few days back. He was a paragliding instructor (there is a serious abundance of outdoor activities in this country) driving down to Queenstown for a paragliding competition that weekend. Interesting guy. We talked for a while about getting a work visa here, which was easy for him, since Great Britain and New Zealand are part of the Commonwealth, but his German girlfriend had to relocate to Australia, since she couldn’t get an extended visa from here.

One of my favorite quotes in a while was regarding his girlfriend when I asked how he met her. She was taking paragliding lessons at the same place he worked when they started dating. She had then gotten into a horrible paragliding accident, where she had broken a leg, an arm and had numerous facial fractures. She was hurt badly enough that her family flew her home to Germany for a time, to get some reconstructive work done there. At some point during my questioning him about it, talking about health care in the respective countries and such, he stopped and said, “just to be clear, I wasn’t her instructor.”

He dropped me off slightly outside Queenstown, but it was too far to walk into town, so I quickly got another ride from a local resident. He picked me up and asked where I was staying in town and I told him I didn’t know, so if he could just drop me off somewhere near the town center that would be great. Queenstown for me can be summed up by his reply when I asked him advice about any good places to eat or drink on town: “I’m sorry, I am a local. We don’t ever go into Queenstown for that. It’s all tourists there – all the time.”

And so it was. I’m not sure I met any Kiwis in the two days I stayed there. Queenstown is touted as the activity center of New Zealand, and it certainly is. You can do one of the world’s highest bungee jumps (the original bungee jump is here also), whitewater raft, book day trips to Milford Sound, and party late into the night like a 20-something year old – which in fact describes the tourist population quite accurately.

I think I’ve decided one of my rules is going to be ‘too young to die, to old to party like a 25 year old.’ Well, it’s more a guideline than a rule.

In this case though, I just simply wasn’t in the mood at all. I’m sure Queenstown is a great place to hang out, but it just rubbed me the wrong way completely, so I hopped on a bus down to Te Anu, which is the small town close to Milford and Doubtful Sounds, which were my next destinations.

Photo of the Day: Sunrise near Te Anu, New Zealand

2010-04-26T10:03:00.001-05:00

From New Zealand - South Island

on to Wanaka, via the thumb

2010-04-26T09:53:00.001-05:00

The road south first went down the middle of the South Island, over some mountain passes, before turning west to the coast. On the mountainous part of the road, there was some sort of running race going on. Hundreds of people were running, stretched out over a dozen or more miles. I must say that I’ve never understood the supposed thrill of running and my view on the whole topic is reinforced every time I see the expression on the face of someone that has been jogging for a long distance. It is simply not a happy look.

A few hours later, I was dropped off at the town around the corner from Fox Glacier, which is one of the two glaciers, the other being Franz Joseph, in this area. Both are famous in the glacier world, since they are the only two glaciers in the world that exist in a temperate climate.

The glacier was interesting, especially considering the temperate surroundings. I had previously decided to skydive here in New Zealand, adding to my ‘done’ list of things I hadn’t tried before, and had heard that skydiving over the glaciers was one of the best spots in world. I didn’t doubt it, but the weather wasn’t complying for me, so I stuck the thumb out and got a ride south.

Getting a hitch in this part of the country was tougher than the other places I tried to, I think because this area is very under populated and most of the drivers that passed me by seemed to be tourists. Although two American travelers finally picked me up, a brother and sister in New Zealand for a long stay, I have to say that I ended up getting pretty annoyed with most tourists as I stood on the side of the road with my thumb out. How difficult would it have been for someone in one of the many camper vans rolling around to pick up a fellow traveler? Apparently very difficult, since I never got a sniff from any of them.

Victoria and Logan were the brother and sister from Oregon that picked me up. She was studying for a semester at one of the universities in Dunedin and he had been wandering around for a few months, before he headed off to Southeast Asia. Logan was one of those travelers that had bought a cheap car after he got here and picked me up because he had hitched before and wanted to “make sure his karma” was good for the future. I hope his karma is a hell of a lot better than the dozen or so putzes in campers that passed me by. They were on their way from Frank Joseph to Wanaka and Logan said that he’d been there before and liked it a lot. Good enough for me.

Picton to Nelson and Abel Tasman

2010-04-24T13:26:00.002-05:00

After my weekend in Wellington, I took an early morning ferry across to the South Island, which drops you off in the small town of Picton. The typical way to do the South Island is in a basic loop around the outside (with a stop in the middle at Queenstown and/or Wanaka as you cross over from one side to the other), but I hadn’t decided whether I wanted to go clockwise or counterclockwise. Since I was going to hit everything at some point, there was no practical difference, so I left it up to random choice and asked the desk clerk for the Intercity bus line to decide for me. She said counterclockwise and so I bought a ticket to Nelson.

The bus was more than half empty and I was a bit low energy, so I pulled out my brother’s iPod (he sent it over to replace my dead one), pulled up some music I recognized and decided to chill out for the couple hour bus ride. About fifteen minutes later, just outside of town, I could hear the driver making some announcement over the loudspeakers and paused my music so I could listen, figuring he was going to say something about our schedule or some construction issue on the upcoming road.

‘O no, it was nothing that mundane. He was giving us a history of the settlement of this particular area. The name and date of the original exploration (Dutch, ergo the Dutch name “New Zealand” and later the British). A little bit about the timber farmers that were the first settlers in these valleys, but “more about that later, when we get closer to Nelson. . .” I actually pulled out my ticket to make sure that I hasn’t inadvertently gotten on the wrong bus and was on some sort of guided tour.

Nope. Intercity public bus. NZ$26 ticket to Nelson. Just a regular old bus, with the unpaid for, but added, bonus of a knowledgeable tour guide/driver. I am not sure I can say this often enough – these people may be the nicest and friendliest I have ever met. By the way, this ended up not being a one time occurrence; more often than not, the bus drivers played this informative role on the buses I took.

At Nelson, I walked through the middle of town to the end of the main road, then up a hill to the nicest hostel I stayed at one the entire trip, the Golden Lodge. The hostel was the second floor of a historical mansion on top of a small hill with a great view over the town and the harbor. Inside, everything was quite plush: big living room with a big screen TV, nice rooms, expansive kitchen, and nice furniture everywhere. And an oddity for New Zealand – free wifi. I stayed there a couple days, then wandered a bit further west to Motueka, which is right next to Abel Tasman National Park.

Abel Tasman is the most visited park in all of New Zealand. You can do all or part of a 25 mile, three to five-day hike through the park, sleeping at huts maintained by the Department of Conservation. The park borders the ocean and has some of the nicest water views in the entire country. Unfortunately, I managed to bring some torrential rainfall with me to “the sunniest place in New Zealand,” so I didn’t partake in any of the hiking, though I wanted to originally. My knee is a bit jacked up, after getting dinged back in Sudan, but the hiking in this park was fairly level, unlike most of the rest of the opportunities coming up, so I was a bit disappointed in my bad luck on the weather front. Instead, I took a water taxi up and down the coast, to catch some of the rain sodden views and then set off south for the long bus ride to Fox Glacier.

Photo of the Day: Uganda mountain gorillas

2010-04-23T13:27:00.001-05:00

From Bwindi Impenetrable National Forest

it is amazing how close you can get to the mountain gorillas -- amazing creatures. And not many of them left, alas.

Napier to More Wine Country

2010-04-23T08:03:00.003-05:00

After quaffing a few of the local shiraz in Napier, I was faced with a decision on how I wanted to proceed to see New Zealand. AC/DC was playing a big stadium concert over in Auckland and I had some friends I wanted to see there. But the weather report wasn’t that great and I figured some good, quality nature sightseeing on the spectacular South Island would be good for my soul, and my liver, so I decided to head down to Wellington and across to the south via the ferry.

With one intermediate stop, of course. During my various tastings in Hawke’s Bay, I had heard (OK, I asked, but same same) that there was a small village named Martinsbourgh in the southeast of the North Island that I should stop by to sample the excellent pinot noir. Since that is one of my current favorites, I thought it would be rude to just rush by and ignore the place.

I took a bus most of the way down from Napier, and then had my first hitchhiking experience here. Hitchhiking and Niceness in New Zealand The next day, I rented a bike and pedaled around in a slow, lazy square around Martinsbrough and tasted, and ate, at seven or eight wineries. It was the first time that I’d biked around to taste wine and I have to say it was a simply lovely day. Sunny, but not too warm. The tasting rooms were almost empty. The people pouring were very informative about their wines, and perhaps most importantly, the wines were great. Plus, not that I have the greatest palate to start with, the slow pace of riding a bike around helped keep my tasting ability up to whatever I possess in my unaltered state. And I had the false sense of satisfaction that I was burning off whatever calories I was consuming, though I must admit that calorific guilt isn’t one of the ones that has much of a grip on my conscience.

The day after my full tasting day was the opening of a two-day fair in town. People came from all over the island to set up booths on and about the town square, selling all sorts of handicrafts and such, and it was such a big deal that all of the hotel rooms for miles around were booked completely. Not that I would have entertained the thought of sticking around a place where there wasn’t anything to do, save for to drink good wine, for another few days, it was time to move along.

To Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, in order to randomly stumble upon the Wellington Seven’s international rugby tournament – one of the oddest unplanned treats on my long way around this planet. Wellington Sevens

Photo of the Day: Angkor Wat

2010-04-22T06:59:00.000-05:00

From Angkor Wat

Napier, New Zealand

2010-04-18T12:29:00.000-05:00

Time for a quick series of blogs on New Zealand, in a belated effort to sum up the two months I spent there – the longest time I got to spend on any country in this trip.

I ended up spending about a month on each island. My freighter from Australia dropped me off in a town on the east coast of the North Island, called Napier. Ironically, the only way I could have made it all the way around the world without flying was discovering freighter travel and the travel agent that set up all four of my ship legs lives and works there, so I finally got to meet him in person, after exchanging a few hundred emails with him during the last year.

I have a nice picture of Hamish, but alas, it is on my other computer. Will try to post later.

Napier was a place I had never heard of before in my life, and for the most part, there isn’t any reason I should have, but that didn’t make it any less interesting. Right up my alley, it is the main city in the Hawke’s Bay area, which is one of the better wine producing areas of New Zealand – a country with a hell of a lot of wineries in a relatively small area. The other point of interest for Napier is that it was almost completely destroyed by a huge earthquake on February 3, 1931. New Zealand has quite a volcanic and seismic history, as it is part of the “Ring of Fire” that circles the Pacific Ocean on both sides.

Napier was leveled in the midst of the Art Deco era, which wasn’t the longest lasting architectural era, and was rebuilt predominately in that style. It claims to be the “only entirely Art Deco” city in the world. I can’t say that I have any grounds to contest that bold, and unusual, boast. Regardless, it is a nice little town to wander around in, though the weather was rather poor when I was there (one of the many times that I apparently brought rain clouds to the supposedly sunniest place in New Zealand). They have an annual Art Deco weekend celebration in town on the third weekend of February, to celebrate the town’s overcoming the earthquake.

Unfortunately, I feel fairly confident that I ended up staying in town for more time than I originally anticipated because of the proximity of the wineries, and not the unique architectural stylings, but the buildings sure were mighty purdy.

Train from Christchurch to Kaikoura

2010-04-16T12:35:00.002-05:00

I would like to introduce everyone to Caleb. If you want to be given some reasons to come visit New Zealand (which frankly, everyone should do at least one time in their life), there is no better ambassador than this particular 12-year-old Kiwi.

As much as I love trains, during the two months I staying in New Zealand, I was only able to take one train trip, which just gives me more reason to come back and visit another time in the future. The one short train jaunt I was able to take was an early morning departure from Christchurch up to Kaikoura, where I intended to try to do a little whale watching.

Some tangentia: I’m listening to Nina Simone’s song ‘Sinner Man’ right now, which reminds me of two entirely unrelated movies every time I hear it. First and most obviously, it is the song that is used during the incredibly well choreographed theft scene in The Thomas Crown Affair. Tangentia piled upon tangentia; very, very few remakes are as good as the original, but that remake is much better than the rather boring original, which can also be said for The Italian Job in recent years. Not many more examples of ‘better than the original’ come to mind for me, though as always, I’m open for comments/input.

The second thing that this particular song reminds me of is so obscure that I’m not even sure I am right, but I’ll go with it anyway, in the form of a question to ya’ll. No fair googling it – I’m in the middle of the Pacific and didn’t do so myself. I am pretty sure that Nina Simone is the musical reference made during a pretty fantastic breakup scene in a classic Bill Murray movie. Curious if I’m right about that. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Caleb’s birthday was the day after our shared train ride. His mother, Jenni, was taking him up to Kaikoura to meet the rest of their family, who were all driving up from Christchurch to save money. As a huge train fan, his birthday present from his mother was the train ride. Through the luck of random seating, they sat opposite me over the table we shared for the ride up. His level of enthusiasm was inspiring. I wish I had that level of enthusiasm for. . . well, anything. Not that I remotely want to go back to that age, but being able to look upon it and remember was a nice belated, non-prime number birthday present for me. It was an exceptional few hours.

Caleb wants to work for the Department of Conservation (DOC) in New Zealand, which to my eyes, he seems already well qualified to do. He told me about the only native mammal of New Zealand, a small bat, whose name he knew, but I could not jot down quickly enough as he raced to the next highlight of “the greatest country in the world.” I was told of many things and places I needed to see: Stewart Island, the original steam train at Waipura, Doubtful Sound, Lake Taupo, and Mount Hut for skiing in the winter. He could have been a tour guide – hell, I’ve had far less informed tour guides plenty of times on my journey. His mother was concerned that he was rambling on, and he was, and tried to hush him a few times, but frankly, I wanted to hear everything he could throw out there.

There was an open-air car on the train that you could go to in order to get a better view of the passing scenery. As the train got close to our final destination, to a part of the track where it ran right next to the ocean, Caleb and Jenni invited me to join them up there to look for seals. As the fresh air whipped through the open cabin and the morning sun reflected off the Pacific Ocean, Caleb turned to me and said with the absolute certainty that only a twelve year old can muster, “New Zealand is the best place ever.”

Can’t argue with you there, Caleb. Can’t argue at all.

Pacific by freighter

2010-04-13T09:51:00.002-05:00

OK, the verdict is in -- the Pacific Ocean is big. Really big. Took 17 days to cross it in the CAP Cleveland. Yesterday, I went through the Panama Canal. Today, I have a couple hours in the horribly ugly port town of Colon. Tomorrow, I hopefully have time to. . . edit and post the 10 or so blogs I wrote on the boat. Basically, a ton of stuff about New Zealand.

So. . . I haven't forgotten the blog. Hopefully, the new blogs will start up tomorrow. And then one a day for a good bit of time.

Thanks ya'll, for you patience.

Photo of the Day: Laas Gaal, Somaliland

2010-03-22T16:53:00.002-05:00

From Laas Gaal

amazing ancient, ancient rock art only recently rediscovered by Western eyes. Worth a visit to the very safe, and interesting, non-recognzied country of Somaliland.

Photo of the Day: Sunrise Milford Sound

2010-03-20T06:08:00.000-05:00

From New Zealand - South Island

Photo of the Day: Dresden, Germany

2010-03-15T21:46:00.001-05:00

From Dresden

A town almost entirely destroyed by some massive fire bombing in WWII (and made famous by Kurt Vonegut). It is an incredibly beautiful city.

Photo of the Day: Wicked Camper

2010-03-07T17:08:00.000-06:00

From New-Old

Wicked Campers are rental campers I've seen in Australia and New Zealand. They are all painted up and usually have a few really racy comments on them that are quite funny. I should have been taking pics from the beginning. This one was SO wrong. . . but so funny.

Photos of the Day: St. Petersburg

2010-03-06T15:58:00.001-06:00

From St. Petersburg

Photos of the Day: train side in Tanzania

2010-03-03T14:56:00.002-06:00

From Train to Dar es Salaam

one thing that is almost universal anywhere in the world. . . kids love having their picture taken. As long as you show them the result on your digital screen afterwords. We took a 3 day train ride from Zambia to Dar es Saleem. The train would occasionally stop for no apparent reason in the middle of no where, but there were these little villages all over the place. As soon as you jumped out of the train with a camera. . . kids everywhere.

Such a great day.

Being in "The Zone" on the road

2010-03-02T18:16:00.004-06:00

I recently finished another book downloaded to my Kindle called Yoga for People that Can't Be Bothered to Do It by a guy named Geoff Dyer. It is a collection of travel stories and it is a pretty good read.

One of the concepts he talks about is "being in the zone," which I had previously only thought of in sports terms before. The Zone in sports is when an athlete has a feeling of peace or confidence that manifests itself with a feeling that he or she simply cannot be beaten on that day. You here quotes from baseball hitters along the lines of "the ball looked like a beach ball coming at me -- I couldn't miss it." Or basketball players saying that the defenders seemed to be locked in concrete or the basket seemed 5 feet across. Or a golfer that can just seem to hit every shot exactly as they imagine in their head before they swing. It happened to me a few times in days long, long go by when I actually played sports (and my body was less of a wreck than it is now), but you can never experience that feeling too many times. In recent years, it has happened to me at a poker table some -- it is as if I can actually see the cards that my opponents have.

Dyer used it in a context that I had never thought of before, in a travel sense. I forget where he said he felt it (yea, I take great notes -- there will be a LOT of research needed during the book writing process), but the sense of when he was talking about the zone was similar to how I felt playing sports or poker. It is a feeling of sublime peace. As if all of the unnecessary distractions in life completely go away. It is truly one of the greatest and most euphoric feelings I have ever experience.

Set me to thinking. I've now been to 44 countries on this trip. Done a variety of things. Has anything or any place on the trip rose to that level for me? And I realized that there was a place where I did feel that way. The house that Isak Dinesen, a.k.a. Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke, lived in for years outside of Nairobi, Kenya.

You probably recognize the picture of the house. It is the same one made famous by the movie "Out of Africa," staring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. The inside of the house is different than the movie, but the exterior shots were basically accurate. I just felt very at ease there -- as if I could have lived there for quite some time. Immediately at ease with the place. And the vibe that came from it. I walked through the inside a few times. The room she wrote in was in the front of the house. Big desk. Large room. So perfect for its purpose. Walked around the grounds lazily for a few hours.

I was in the zone. I doubt hardly anyone I know would share that expression for that particular place, but to each his or her own. I'm curious -- have you felt that way about a place or an activity on the road?? I'd love to hear yours.

Thanks,
Michael

Photos of the Day: Lalibella, Ethiopia

2010-03-01T18:04:00.002-06:00

From Lalibella

My 3 Best Kept Secrets

2010-02-18T05:00:00.002-06:00

I was tagged by the really excellent blogger, Brooke of brookevstheworld, to do a blog about my 3 best travel secrets. Brooke's 3 Travel Secrets Go read her blog -- it is really good.

Here is what I've got to offer:

(1) Kindle (international edition). As those of you that have been reading my blog for some time know. . . I am a huge book addict. This trip has been great for having the time to rededicate myself to reading, having read somewhere around 40 books or so. The Kindle was a new addition, my parents got it for me for Christmas, and I wish I would have had it for the entire trip. Not only would it have far lessened the weight I have been carrying around on my back, since I usually have somewhere between 7-10 books in there, but the reason that is also the top of my list of travel secrets is something I had no idea about until I got it: free internet from almost anywhere in the world. You heard me right. Free internet. Not off wifi connections, which can be few and far between, but off whatever local cell phone reception you can get, which means you can get internet about anywhere. I have no idea how it is free, but this item is a must-bring for any long-term traveler.
(2) Lion’s Head. Cape Town is one of my new favorite big cities from this trip, along with Istanbul and Budapest. One of the iconic things about Cape Town is Table Mountain, which is the backdrop for almost every beautiful picture of this wonderful city, but frankly there is about no good reason to go up to the top of it. The best view of this incredibly attractive town is after the hike up to the top of the other mountain in town, Lion’s Head. It is a wonderful hike up and the 360-degree view from the top, of the harbor, Table Mountain, and the beaches, is not to be missed. Hike up early with some sandwiches, a bottle of wine and your Kindle and enjoy lunch up top.

From Capetown

(3) Cabo Polonia, Uruguay. I wrote a blog about my days at this great little village – for a longer explanation of why I thought it was a great travel secret goto Cabo Polonia. I think it qualifies as a legitimate travel secret, since I haven’t seen it emphasized in too many guidebooks. Basically it is a small beach town with no electricity, though some bars and restaurants have generators. It is cool, fun, and a great place to pass a few days away, when you want to just chill out.

so now I'm going to tag a few great bloggers to do there Top 3 Travel Secrets: Sherry Ott of Ottsworld Ottsworld and Jodi Ettenberg of Legal Nomads Legal Nomads and since I'm doing the RTW trip with no planes, partly for environmental reasons. . . traveling greener

Photo of the Day: Mancupicchu

2010-02-17T22:19:00.004-06:00

From Manchupiccu and Waynapiccu

from neighboring Wanapicchu -- do that hike up -- really worth it.

It IS a Small World After All

2010-02-17T15:34:00.002-06:00

Most of the long-term travelers that I have met have some variation of the “it’s a small world” story that runs in a similar fashion – I ran into so and so a number of countries and weeks after I saw them last time. No matter how many times I have heard variations of this fairly common story, it never ceases to totally amaze me when it happens to me, as it has three times on my trip.

You have already heard the first time this happened to me The People on the Frieghters I took a freighter from Brasil to South Africa with a few people, including Ian. Our ship got to Cape Town in early April. I then went overland, basically up East Africa, from there, until I got to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, around the end of June. Four months and 3,500 miles later. There, in a hotel bar one afternoon, in walked Ian, out of the blue.

The second time was a lot less awe-inspiring. I hung out with a Brit named Stephen for two or three days in Hanoi, Vietnam, when I arrived there. Nice guy, we had some beers, talked about football (international style), and compared notes on what we were thinking about doing in Southeast Asia. The then took off to go to southern Vietnam and over to Cambodia. I went a little further south, then turned west to Laos, then down to Cambodia, then back to Thailand about six weeks later. I had a late-night train from Bangkok to northern Thailand and was killing a few hours in a pub before the train, actually watching some Premier League football, when Stephen walked in. We both had our backpacks with us – he was leaving in a few hours on a bus, going south.

The latest one happened just a couple days ago, here in New Zealand. In February of last year I meet three girls in Ecuador, two from the U.S. and Lily, from Canada. These were the three that I did the bridge jump with in Banos. Since then, I haven’t been in touch with her at all. She went back to Canada, worked, and a few months ago, decided she wanted to toss her life up in the air a bit and moved to New Zealand. This was all totally unknown to met.

So a couple days ago, I hitchhiked from Fox Glacier to a little lake town in the southern middle of New Zealand, Wanaka. A brother and sister from Oregon were nice enough to pick me up and bring me here. The brother had been traveling around New Zealand for a while and once we got here, he took us to a little local pub off the beaten track, with some cheap beer.

We walked in around 8 p.m. and were the only three customers in there. As we went up to the bar and ordered, from the other side of the bar I heard a quite loud “Michael!” It turns out Lily had landed in Wanaka less than a week ago and just got a job at this bar three days before I walked in. One year later. Literally almost all the way around the world.

It truly is a small world. And we celebrated such a revelation by then going to another bar to torture innocent patrons with our versions of karaoke classics.

So here is what I’d really like to assemble some more of these stories here. If you’ve got a story, post it in the comments section. If you have written a blog post about one of these situations, please feel free to link it here. I love hearing these stories.

Here is a good start from an excellent blogger. Jodi’s Small World Please post more.

Movie Time

2010-02-16T20:51:00.004-06:00

A quick mini-post. I love movies. And for some movies, there is simply no better place to see a movie on the big screen – watching on a television, no matter how big is no substitute. Lawrence of Arabia. Blade Runner. Star Wars. Saving Private Ryan. And so on and so forth. Plus, just the event of sitting in a theatre is one that I really like.

I haven’t seen too many movies on this trip, which is one of the few things I miss. I saw Slumdog Millionaire in Santiago, Chile, which was interesting because it was in English with Spanish subtitles. Obviously that would normally be good for me, but if you saw Slumdog Millionaire, you might recall there was a good portion of the first half of the movie were the dialog was in Hindi (I think) and there were English subtitles. . . unless you saw it in Santiago, where the subtitles were in Spanish. Made for interesting guesswork on my behalf.

I saw Avatar in Alice Springs, Australia and it may be, in my opinion, the most overrated movie I have recall in my adult lifetime. The script seemed to be written by a college freshman as part of a Intro to Movies 101 class. Horrible. The special effects were wonderful, but ask yourself this, was there a single character that you will remember in ten years (or ten months for that matter). Any Han Solo? And Chewbacca? Hell, not even a R2D2. Sitting here as you read this, do you recall any of the characters names without googling it? No doubt the 3D special effects are cutting edge, but they won’t be in just a small bit of time. If that movie wins the Best Movie Oscar. . . worst Best Movie winner of all-time. In a decade, it won’t even be a debate. People will laugh at how stupid the voters were.

How annoyed am I with the praise for this movie? It is approaching a Andrew Lloyd Webster situation. ‘Nuff said. My Andrew Lloyd Webber Rant Blog

And there endith the rant and my effort of having a short and easily readable blog. On to the two movie experiences I had in New Zealand. I was bored one afternoon in Nelson and decided to go see It’s Complicated. The movie was fine – typical stuff from Nancy Meyers. Some reviewer called her movies “kitchen porn” and that seems about right. What I found fascinating was that it was the first time I’d ever had assigned seating in a movie theatre. When I bought my ticket, the clerk pulled out a seating chart and had me pick out my seat. E-1. Not a big deal, but just thought it interesting that first time I had an assigned seat was in the small town of Nelson, New Zealand.

Yesterday, I went to see The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Perhaps the worst title ever for marketing. Even if you loved it, you aren’t going to remember the name. It is a Terry Gilliam movie and he makes some wild and weird stuff (Brazil is a true classic). This movie is a bit famous, because it was Heath Ledger’s last movie, before his untimely and early death. Speaking of him, check out many movies he made before he died. Heath Ledger's Movie List I had no idea until I looked. He was a really talented actor, in my opinion, and was quite good in this movie. He died in the middle of filming and the method (and other surprise actors) that Gilliam covered for his loss is perhaps the best part of the entire movie.

What I liked about the experience was the theatre: Paradiso Cinema/Café/Bar. Ripped off name, but great little place. The seats in the theatre are big couches, overstuffed chairs, bean bags, and even a small car, with the top sawed off. You can order beer and wine and bring it on it with you and the same for full meals from the attached kitchen. Really nice concept.

Photo of the Day: Napa Plant Close-up

2010-02-13T22:16:00.000-06:00

From Various old

OK - here is the "heard" part of Sevens

2010-02-12T06:44:00.003-06:00

. . . and other notes on the Wellington Sevens Tourny.

As I sat outside the front gate taking pictures of everyone coming in to watch on Saturday, there was a looped recording playing over the loudspeakers talking about things that were permitted and not permitted in the stadium. I toned it out for a bit, but after a few loops I started paying attention.

Funniest offical announcement I may have ever heard. Here are some excerpts:

"Vehicle boot (trunk) parties are not permitted on the grounds. Neither are naked parties."

"You may be prohibited entry if you are mashed, smashed or generally off your face on alcohol or illicit drugs." (I like the 'may' part of that, in addition to the language).

"Banned items include -- alcohol, flasks, beverages other than water, witchcraft paraphanalia, picnic baskets, large bags. . . especially if they contain illicit drugs, water pistols or anything that looks dangerous. If you've got anything dodgy, do yourself a favor and dump it before we catch you."

"Throwing objects along with drunk and obnoxious fans can be really, really annoying. . . and might just get you evicted."

The entire weekend has a sense of humor.

I ended up watching a lot of the event on television in a couple local pubs. I couldn't get tickets, since they were sold out well in advance, but it is a sport that does well on television anyway. A couple of notes from watching on TV.

The TV announcers and sideline reporters were also dressed in costume. The sideline announcers were dressed as a gladiator, a geisha, and a Catholic Cardinal one day. The next day, one of the guys was in a Cinderella outfit.

Between the quick games, the announcers would go over the current betting lines on upcoming games and the betting odds of certain teams to win the entire tournament. Coming from the U.S., I found this particularly amusing (and great). At one point, one of the announcers said to a sideline reporter, "Well I put $50 down on Fiji this morning minus 8 points in this game. What do you think about that wager?"

How little support does the U.S. team get back home? Our team's official main sponsor, right across the front of our jerseys: Emirates Airlines. The official airline of the United Arab Emirates. We couldn't even get a U.S. company to sponsor our team. Even Kenyan Airlines was willing to sponsor the Kenyan team (which performed a lot better than we did).

It is not often that I don't recognize a country. I am pretty good with geography, but one of the participants got me in this event: Niue. Actually, now that I look it up, "Though self governing, Niue is in free association with New Zealand, and thus lacks full sovereignty." Whew. Perhaps that doesn't count as non-knowledge for me. . . at least on this particular score.

Speaking of Nuie, one match was Nuie verses Wales (another non-country, now that I think about it). Has there ever been an international match of any two "countries" with less total population? Nuie = 2,000 people. That is not a misprint. 2,000. There were 10-11 people on the team, including substitutes. Plus some coaches and trainers and such. . . and fans. I think they might have just shut the country down for this weekend -- there was a pretty good chance that 10% of an entire country's population was in attendance at this event. Population of Wales = under 3 million. Well, now that I look it up, I didn't think Wales had that many people.

At one point, as the television cameras panned through the hard-partying crowd, the one annoucer proclaimed: "There are gunna be some headaches in the morning."

So, of course you want to know how the mighty USA team did, I'm sure. On the second day of the tournament, they have a series of elimination games for all the teams, based on how they did on day one. In the end, they award four trophys. The Cup goes to the winner of the whole thing. The Plate goes to the winnner of the next bracket. The Bowl is below that and the Shield is basically the best of the losers' bracket.

We won the Shield -- USA (population 300 million) over Scotland (population 5 million) 19-12 in the Semi-Finals and then USA just getting by Tongo (population 120,000) 17-14 in the Finals.

Go USA!

From Wellington Sevens

Seen on the Bus

2010-02-11T06:05:00.000-06:00

I have written before about some of the joys of traveling overland and avoiding planes. There are some downsides, for sure, but being able to feel the miles go by and see some of the things you see out the window of a bus, car or train (instead of the world literally flying by at 20,000 feet) is something that I really cherish about this particular trip.

Today I took a short one-hour bus ride from Nelson, New Zealand up the road to Motueka, which is closer to the Abel Tasman National Park, since I'm going to do a little boating and hiking there tomorrow. I don't have any New Zealand guidebook, so I have no idea if this is mentioned anywhere, but as I was daydreaming and listening to my brother's iPod and looking out the right side of the bus as we drove by the Moutere Inlet on the Coastal Highway, I saw a sight that put a big smile on my face.

There were a bunch of messages spelled out in the tidal flats in rocks collected from nearby (though I couldn't see any big supply of rocks around). People's names -- "Angie," "David and Susan," "Thomas was here/UK" -- messages "Live Proud," "Backpack=Life" -- and others. It went on for quite some distance; I estimated a couple miles.

I had seen people spell out things with rocks before. There is a series of similar things just off the path on the last day of the hike I took up Kilimanjaro. What I particularly thought was nice about these messages is that they would be completely submerged for half of the day, when the tide was up, only to emerge each day as the tide receeded. Messages straight from the life-giving ocean.

It was a nice moment to remember why I've liked staying earthbound on this trip.

Heard (and seen) at the Wellington Sevens

2010-02-10T23:16:00.005-06:00

I randomly stumbled -- random good stumbling has been a hallmark of my trip -- into an unexpected pleasure last weekend in Wellington, New Zealand. It was the weekend of the annual Wellington Sevens Rugby Tournament.

During the trip, I've had the chance to watch some rugby on television with people from countries that (a) care about the sport and (b) were nice enough to explain some of it to me. Normal rugby is played with 13 or 15 players on each team, Rugb League and Rugby Union rules, respectively. Don't ask me why there are two different kinds of the game. For Americans, the easiest way to think of rugby is basically American football without the forward pass and without any breaks in the action. There are some other rules, but basically it is similar to American football with just lateral passes and running for the end zones. . . and the ability to kick "field goals" on the run as the action is going on. O' yea, as the rugby people out there will point out, incessently, "no sissy helmets and pads, like you wimpy Americans.

Pretty cool game to watch, actually. Though I think if America took it seriously and put out a trained team of our football players on the field, they might not think we were that wimpy.

Turns out there is another type: Sevens. Needless to say, in this version there are only seven people on the team. I think the size of the field is the same for all the games. Since there are fewer players, there is a lot less defense, and a hell of a lot more action in Sevens. So much action and running, in fact, that the entire game is only about 15 minutes long, with a very brief break for halftime at the 7 minute mark. They play 24 preliminary round games on Friday and another 20 or so elimination games on Saturday to determine the winners. Non-stop action.

The Sevens Tournament is an annual international event with 16 nations competing. It is part of something called the IRB Sevens World Series Circuit -- basically, these teams travel around the world and have these two day tournaments. In fact, this upcoming weekend they are in Las Vegas. If you are close by -- it would be well worth your effort to go watch. It really is a blast.

But enough about rugby. The reason this tournament is really interesting is that all the spectators dress up in costumes. I really do mean everyone. I sat outside the entrance gates for a couple hours and took pictures of people showing up to watch. I'd estimate a full 90% of the crowd were dressed up. And not only the people showing up -- there were hundreds upon hundreds of people just wandering around town for these two days in costume also.

If you like Halloween, this is a must-do event for you.

From Wellington Sevens

Hitchhiking and General Niceness in New Zealand

2010-02-10T09:19:00.000-06:00

Pretty much every person back home that I know that has visited New Zealand thinks it is the best place on the planet, both because of how friendly the people are and the scenery. I haven’t been motivated enough to see enough of the scenery to make any sort of complete comparison of other places I have seen, but I have met enough Kiwis to say they may be the nicest people in the world.

Before I got to New Zealand I sent out messages asking friends if they knew anyone that lived here. Between friends of friends and Kiwi’s I’ve met on the road, I had a nice base of people to give me advice about these two small islands. One thing that a number of them asked me if whether I was going to do any hitchhiking. I hadn’t really thought of it before then. In Africa, I had to do a little bit of it to get around some areas without public transport, but I’d figured I would just be taking trains and buses here. Once I got here, some other travelers I ran into in Napier also said it was the best place in the world to hitchhike.

So I did. When I went to buy a bus ticket from Napier to Martinsbourgh, the ticket lady told me the bus only went as close as Featherston, which is about 20 kilometers from Martinsbourgh. She said, “you won’t have a problem getting a ride from there.” OK, sounds good to me.

I took a couple buses down to the southern part of the North Island, at Featherston and got off in that small village. After taking a quick look around, I saw the road sign for the Martinsbourgh and started walking down the road. Sure enough, the third car that drove by stopped and picked me up for the 20-kilometer drive.

Shawn was a Kiwi from Wellington, which is the capital of New Zealand and is about an hour’s drive from where he picked me up. He was on his way to his new fiancée’s parents’ house for what was essentially and interview with them, as he put it. He had only been dating her for ten weeks and had proposed just a few days before. He was now on his way to meet her parents for the first time.

What amazed me what that he told me: “They are having a BBQ tonight. I’d just bring you on over, but it might not be the best night for that.” And he was dead serious about just bringing a total stranger that he met 3 minutes before over for dinner with his soon-to-be-in-laws, who he hadn’t met yet. Amazing Kiwi hospitality.

Shawn dropped me off in the center of town and I wished him well in his interview. He gave me his email and told me to drop him and line so we could have a beer down the road. I then walked into the Martinsbourgh Hotel and asked them if they had a room available. The woman behind the desk looked at my backpack and me and said quite nicely: “We only have one room left tonight, but it is $200.” As she said this, she didn’t even wait for my reply but pulled out a local map and said “there are a couple other places in town that might be good for you” as she made a couple X marks on the map and told me the names of them.
As she is pointing out the two (cheaper) other places in town, a guy walks by and says, “hey Allie, why not just call the motel and see if they have a room. If not, I can drive him over to the place outside of town.” Yet another nice offer from a total stranger. She called the motel, which was close enough to walk to, and sure enough, they did have one room left for $65 a night.

When I got to the motel, I was met by the husband part of the husband and wife team that owned the place, Colin. He asked if I knew the deal for the room and I told him that I thought it was $65 a night. He said, “yea, usually, but the room is a bit small. How about $60. Does that sound OK?” Since I’d already said $65 was fine, I wasn’t going to argue with him bidding against himself.

I had a great couple days in Martinsborough. I rented a bike the next day and rode around to about 8-10 wineries on a beautiful, clear, sunny, 70-degree day. It was a Thursday and hardly anyone else was tasting. It was a really nice day.

When I left, I needed to hitchhike back to Featherston, where I was planning on catching the train to Wellington. This time it took me a lot longer to get a ride – almost fifteen minutes. Then Carl, Carol and Rob pulled over to pick me up. They asked where I was going to and I told them Featherston. They said they weren’t going that entire way – they were turning off about halfway there to head north – but asked if I wanted to get a ride with them until the turnoff. I hopped in, we set off, and Carl, the driver started asking me about my trip, how much cars cost in The United States, my trip and so forth. After a few minutes he said, “well, I guess we can just go to Featherston and take the roundabout, scenic route back home.”

Seriously, the friendliest people I’ve ever run into, I think.

Photo of the Day: Costumes at Wellington Sevens

2010-02-09T16:35:00.001-06:00

From Wellington Sevens

GO USA!

Funny Wine Tasting Notes

2010-02-07T22:23:00.001-06:00

I love wine. I am pretty sure that I have written here on this blog at some point that I’m quite likely going to be the guy at the A.A. meeting in the future that stands up and says, “My name is Mike and I’m an alcoholic. But I’m just not going to be able to give up the red wine. Sorry.”

Although I’m a huge wine fan, some of the wine snobbery makes me laugh. Part of the reason it amuses me is pure jealousy – I don’t have that great of a palette or nose. As much as I love wine (and this goes for food also), I really wish that I had a more developed sense of taste and smell, so that I could both appreciate and describe what I like even more than I do now.

Tasting notes at wineries or restaurants can occasionally be a good source of fodder. Here are a couple of my favorites from the Martinsbourgh region in New Zealand: one from a winery and one from a wine bar/restaurant.

River’s Edge, Margrain, 2007 vintage
Deeply scented black cherries fuse with toasted marshmellow, sweet custard pie and cinnamon sticks. Well seasoned oak supports the floral scent of musky black roses and a savory thorny understory like a briar growing through straw mulch after a recent rain.

Well that pretty much sums it up, I guess.

Vynfields, Reserve Pinot Noir, 2007 Vintage
Earthly wooded forest floor, Autumn leaves and dark brooding fruit. The palate is elegantly structured with finely grained tannins. Try with our French terrines.

Yep, brooding. I wish it would have been in a better mood when I tasted it. Perhaps I would have liked it better.

Photo of the Day: Venice

2010-02-07T15:58:00.002-06:00

From Various old

Just love this city. Shocked that I do, but can't go back enough.

Photo of the Day: Sunrise Zanzibar

2010-02-07T00:07:00.003-06:00

From Sunsets

East side of the island, obviously. Just liked the tide being out and the sailboat temporarily beached. Sort of a neglected and decrepit look to the pic.

Irish Pubs on the Road

2010-02-02T15:40:00.002-06:00

There is an Irish pub in about every city in the world. And I've been to most of them. In Cuzco, Peru, I supposedly went to the "highest" Irish pub in the world. Had a pint in Instanbul. And a few other spots. Sometimes there is no substitute for a good Guinness on the road.

And speaking of which, I've had a pint or two in Rosie's, here in Napier, New Zealand this week and absolutely loved the Guinness poster that was up on the wall there. Supposedly the first national ad for the best beer in the world. The Daily Chronicle from Feb. 7, 1929. And I quote:

"Its Health Giving Value
Guinness builds strong muscles. It enriches the blood. Doctors affirm that Guinness is a valuable restorative after Influenza or other weakening illnesses.

Its Nourishing Properties
Guinness is one of the most nourishing beverages, richer in carbo-hydrates than a glass of milk. That is one reason why it is so good when people are tired or exhausted. Guinness is good for you."

Why yes. Yes, it is. God Bless the Irish.

Photo of the Day: Artist at Work

2010-02-02T15:37:00.000-06:00

From Various old

and offshoot of my fascination of people taking pictures of people/things

Hostel/Dorm Etiquette

2010-02-01T04:47:00.005-06:00

Have been thinking about basic "don'ts" when staying in hostels and dorms, now that I've got a year under my belt, so here goes a little list.

1 -- Be quiet. Look, this is simple and clearly the most violated rule of dorm rooms. From about midnight to 8 am, give or take, people are actually using the dorm room for sleeping. Try to be respectful of that. Don't have a huge drunken conversation with your best buddy in the middle of the room at 3 a.m., when you get home from an "epic" night at the bar. Don't party in the hallway right outside when people are trying to sleep. Just shut it.

2 -- Keep areas clean -- you Mom isn't there to pick up after you. Common areas, kitchens (especially), and please God, don't eat in the dorm room and leave your frickin' dirty dishes there afterwords.

3 -- No sex in the dorm room. First, yes, we can hear you. This is not an activity that is done in complete silence, at least if you are doing it with any degree of proficency. And look, if you want to do it in public, don't get all pissed off if I pull up a chair and offer play by play critique. FYI -- this particular prohibition includes having sex without a partner. It is never appropriate to hear "Fire one!" in a dorm room.

4 -- The dorm room is not the laundry room. Don't string up a line down the middle of the room to dry your clothes. Even worse, don't spread them out on my bed or hang them off my bed. I really don't need to be that close to your wet socks after you got in from a five day hike.

5 -- I shouldn't have to say this, but don't steal anything. Travel karma is a bitch and more importantly, there is a truly horrible place in hell for any traveler that steals from another.

6 -- Speaking of travel karma, pay your tab with the hostel. A lot of them are cool enough to let you run tabs for staying there. Try not to ruin it for those of us that aren't trying to scam the system and appreciate business people trying to make a living and make a traveler's life a litte easier.

7 -- Be friendly. Introduce yourself around. Hostels are a great way to meet people, especially if you are a solo traveler and for those of us that are mostly travelling solo, a friendly hello and an offer to go get a beer with you and your friends is quite welcomed.

8 -- If you are leaving in the morning. PLEASE pack your stuff up the night before. Having someone pack their backpack at 5:30 a.m. is really, really, really annoying.

9 -- Hostels are not clothing optional -- what is the deal with 20something guys just wandering around all day without shirts on? Yes, I'm sure the girls think you are "all that," but put a damn shirt on and act like a grown up for once.

10 -- On that topic, sleeping naked is not an option, or at least, not an acceptable one. Last thing anyone wants to see when they wake up in the morning after a good night out is you rolled over away from your blanket, letting it all hang out.

11 -- Carry a flashlight or torch when you go out at night. Coming home at 2 am and turning on the overhead light to find your locker and/or bed is completely unacceptable.

12 -- Turn your cell phone ringer off at night. Some guys in my dorm room in Cape Town were getting text messages all night one night. Beep, beep. Beep, beep. Closest I've come to flushing an electronic device down a toliet.

13 -- Hell, just turn the damn cell phone off entirely. You are in Bangkok and your emotional boyfriend wants to check up on your night out and talk about your relationship. You know where it is appropriate to have that conversation?? Not in my bedroom. At least take it to the hall, or better yet, the common area or outside. Check that, just book a flight home -- I'm sure you two are perfect for each other. Start the marriage now.

14 -- Buy your hostel workers a drink every now and again. Most of them are just fellow travlers working there for a free place to stay -- they aren't making any reasonable money. Offer to get them a drink. They deserve it for putting up with the idiots they have to deal with every day.

15 -- Glad you had a great night out. Throwing up in the dorm room is unacceptable. You can make it to the bathroom. Promise. Or at least the hallway.

16 -- You know why the food in the 'fridge has a name written on it? Cause it is not yours. Don't take other people's food.

17 -- I know we are now in the ones that make those of you that have never stayed in a hostel say, "really? People do this?" The answer is yes, they do. Don't borrow other people's things without asking them. That is not a community towel -- I promise. And if I wanted you to watch my DVDs, I'd offer to watch with you. Just buy me some drinks.

18 -- Did I mention to be quiet?

I'll have more when I stop to think about it some more. The things people do out here. . . .

Photo of the Day: 'Skyscrapers' in Italy

2010-01-31T19:56:00.002-06:00

From Various old

The Mobile Lawyer -- One Lap, No Jetlag

Michael Hodson wants to stay in touch on LinkedIn

LinkedIn

Getting the Travel Groove Back

Photo of the Day: Chalk Art in Florence

What I Don't Like about Travel

Photo of the Day: Gondolier Break

Photo of the Day: Hoi An Market

Kili and my Tattoo

Photo of the Day: My Back

Dolphin Video

What I wish I knew BEFORE my RTW trip

Glimpses of Memory

Favorite Concerts

Portrait of Joy

Photo of the Day: TGIF

25 Things

Photo of the Day: Monks

Photo of the Day: Umayyad Mosque

Honoring Shark Week: Video

Ramadan: the County Fair feeling

Photo of the Day: Hoi An Market

Photo of the Day: Norway

Photo of the Day: Halong Bay, Vietnam

Photo of the Day: Petra

Photo of the Day: Hoi An, Vietnam

Photo of the Day: Copan Ruins

Berlin Blog with added pictures

Quirks of Travel Time

Photo of the Day: Sunset Mid-Ocean

Photo of the Day: Graffiti

The Kindness of Strangers (or not)

Photo of the Day: News in the Desert

Photo of the Day: Ethiopia Child

Photo of the Day: San Gimignano

Photo of the Day: Sunset at Sea

VIdeo of the Day: Wellington Sevens

Photo of the Day: Guatamala market

Photo of the Day: Cute Kid (Germany)

Photo of the Day: Coloseum at Night

Photo of the Day: At the Museum

Photo of the Day: Brandenburg Gate

Photo of the Day: Budapest

Photo of the Day: Budapest

Photo of the Day: Octoberfest

Photo of the Day: Uluru

Photo of the Day: Great Ocean Road

Photo of the Day: On TOP of a cargo truck

Photo of the Day: Hoi An, Vietnam

Photo of the Day: Copan Ruins, Honduras

Photo of the Day: Sunset, Chobe Park

Travel Tip: Know your Banker

Photo of the Day: Bullfight

Border Crossing via Video

Photo of the Day: Stone Town, Zanzibar

Photo of the Day: San Gimignano, Italy

Close Mindedness

Sunset at Halong Bay, Vietnam

Photo of the Day: Chicken Buses

How the rest of the world sees the U.S.

Photo of the Day: Budapest market

Photo of the Day: Uluru up close

My last couple weeks in New Zealand

Photo of the Day: Capidocia, Turkey

Whale watch in Kaikoura

Milford and Doubtful Sounds

Photo of the Day: Under the Red Sea

Wanaka to Queenstown

Photo of the Day: Sunrise near Te Anu, New Zealand

on to Wanaka, via the thumb

Picton to Nelson and Abel Tasman

Photo of the Day: Uganda mountain gorillas

Napier to More Wine Country

Photo of the Day: Angkor Wat

Napier, New Zealand

Train from Christchurch to Kaikoura

Pacific by freighter

Photo of the Day: Laas Gaal, Somaliland

Photo of the Day: Sunrise Milford Sound

Photo of the Day: Dresden, Germany