April 2011 Blog Posts (98)

I haven't even taken the clothespins and plastic bags out of my suitcase. Clothespins to hold the curtains closed in a hotel room or hang up a wet bathing suit. Plastic bags for that wet bathing suit or stolen extra cookies off the buffet.

I'm learning.

There's no point in…

There is a form of travel in the United States, often mocked incessantly. A form of travel many consider beneath themselves. I too have always looked at it as a last resort. Recently, I had to call upon my last resort as I rode a Greyhound bus from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Charlotte, North Carolina. My friend Jen coined the term, "Ride the Hound" and…

It is important to a bit of soul searching before you start planning your location independent lifestyle. Figure out what you want to do and define short and long term goals to achieve it. For us this process was a long time in the making.

We’ve always preferred to work remotely and keep our own schedule. We made the most of this and traveled as much as possible. Unfortunately it took us several years to realize that we needed a new lifestyle instead of different ways to live the…

If you like to be a bit off the beaten track, and enjoy some of the simpler styles of food that the Spanish and Canarian's live on.  Then a trip to Haria is a must in the North of the Island.  The old buildings are gorgeous, and so is the pace.  Sit and enjoy a little hub of Northern Lanzarote Living in this neck of the woods..

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Volunteering, especially volunteering abroad, is one of those life changing experiences an individual can go through, it can form some of the best moments of one’s life or the worst, and so before a person commits themselves to volunteering abroad, there are a few things you need to ask yourself, to ensure you are making the best choice. Here are a few questions you may consider.

Why do you want volunteer abroad?

There are many reasons why people…

Set check in day or times

I am desperate for fresh air the moment I land in Kathmandu.

Airport. Airplane. Airport. Airplane. And finally, airport. All of them, except the last, enclosed habit-trails of recycled breath. Others’. Mine. A few token plants thrown in to hand out five molecules of pure oxygen for the 250,000 humans transiting the Pacific travel corridor.

My end point, Kathmandu, an unlikely place to find clean air and my checked luggage. It isn’t clean so I’ll call it fresh air that greets me…

Check out the full post I…

The Topeka Zoo finds its home in Gage Park on the Northwestern side of Topeka. It is very easy to get to from Hwy. 40. It is a very clean park and the zoo is well kept and the landscaping is impressive once everything blooms out. The gorilla environment was well thought out and designed. The gorilla was sitting on the ground leaning against a small tree. As a few families gathered at the window and were pointing and whispering their observations, the gorilla casually glanced over at the…

Despite the unyielding, brisk wind blowing down the Ole Missouri River, I had the pleasure of visiting the Remington Nature Center. Upon stepping through the entrance, I was immediately confronted with a life-size mammoth standing guard at the front desk. It was obvious that the long, reddish-brown fur was grown to protect the mammal from the cold of the ice age. Its tusks extending out and looked monstrous as I stood there dwarfed by the sheer size of this creature. After a moment of…

The riders of the Pony Express rode their way into history and legend. One hundred and fifty-one years later, we can now explore the stable where it all started. The Pony Express Museum is at home in the very stables that Express riders so many years ago departed from. The exhibits open a window into history that gives us a chance to see into the lives of the riders and others involved with the creation, operation, and decline of the legend known as the Pony Express.

As we step into…

There’s a lot that you expect from Hong Kong.

Money (or the impression of it).

The foreign (an assault of it).

The juxtaposition of East and West, crammed on a few tiny islands.

Whatever I expected, however – whatever mental image I had of the city, built up from business travellers and Wong Kar Wai films, wasn’t adequate to prepare me for the reality.

Walking…

South America is a fairly smaller continent than the other places we have looked at before; this presents a fair advantage to any volunteers planning to offer their services in this part of the world. It is an advantage in that most countries in this region use Spanish as their national language. The biggest exception is Brazil, who use Portuguese as their national language.

It follows therefore that if you are volunteering in South America, you will be safe as far as…

In an industry known for its creativity in conjuring up new fees, car rental companies have a strong case to beat out airlines for the sheer audacity of their charges. While not a new concept, surcharging “underage” (under 25) drivers an extra $25 a day or more to rent a car has long been an irksome and significant cost for younger travelers.

Hertz seems to have wised up to how discriminatory these fees are, and is offering a…