Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category
More cool photo action from Wend
Friday Photo was such a good idea that we decided to use it over at Wend. Today’s is a shot from the Inca Trail taken by fellow travel writer and photographer Lola Akinmade. If you want to get on the Wend Friday Photo mailing list — meaning you get a sweet weekly shot in your inbox — send a shout out to fphoto[at]wendmag.com.
As of today Wend has a flickr account as well, and there’s even a Wend pool, which you can add photos to in the hopes that they get featured on the Wend blog. Check it all out here.
Glad Midsommar!!!
Although it is beautiful in Portland today and I am attending a solstice party this evening (pictures to come I am sure), there’s still a little part of me that wants to be in Sweden for the festivities… Last year I was in Raneberg (see above photo), just a little north of Gothenburg, and although it rained, we donned our waterproof jackets and made flower garlands anyway…
A little excerpt on Swedish midsummer that I wrote over at Gadling:
“Midsummer is one of the year’s most important celebrations, comparable to New Years and Christmas. Communities will hold traditional Midsummer events which include dancing around a maypole and singing Swedish songs, one of which is called Små Grodorna (Little Frogs) and entails everyone to dance around like a frog while singing the following loosely translated lyrics: “Little frogs are funny to look at/ They don’t have ears or tails.” Who ever said the Swedes didn’t have a sense of humor? Because you’re celebrating the sun, the Swedish countryside is the place to enjoy Midsummer. Most Swedes will choose a country-side location and join their friends in a long night of eating, drinking and merriment.”
Whole article here.
A morning at farmers market
Portland farmers market is probably my favorite time of week, hence the reason that Kristina can call me at 7:30am, tell me to be ready to go in half an hour and it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. But getting to farmers market early is the only way to enjoy the experience; before the hordes of foodies come in and you have to elbow your way through to score the best looking strawberries.
Before the bell had even rung to mark the official market start, my camera already had plenty of shots and I still had time to make it to my favorite booth before the line got too long (yes, true Portlanders will spend a fairly long time standing in line just to score their favorite organic produce). All in all, a very successful Saturday morning.
Blog tip of the day
The amount of RSS feeds that I find myself scanning through in the mornings is starting to get overwhelming, but I have found a new travel blog/journal that I LOVE! Pret a Voyager is all about design and travel (my two favorite things) and it’s fun to look at and read.
Friday Photo: Europe? No, it’s Portland…
I am finally the proud owner of a digital SLR (how did I make it so long with just a 35mm???) and although there hasn’t been loads of time to go out and play with it, I did manage to snap this last night while at First Thursday.
Stockholm’s boat hostels
What’s nice about writing is that even when you want to go somewhere but can’t, you can still spend time thinking about it and come up with a creative way to share it with others. Such is my current situation with Stockholm. If someone bought me a ticket I would go immediately, but unfortunately it’s just not in the cards. That doesn’t stop me from writing about my favorite Scandinavian capital however.
Today my article on Stockholm’s boat hostels was posted over at Been Seen. There are two main boat hostels moored right in the center of town. The more famous of the two is the af Chapman, a fully rigged ship built in Britain in 1888 and once used by the Swedish Navy.
But let’s be honest… writing about Stockholm isn’t quite the same as being there… anyone have an extra ticket they want to give me?
Paris with NYT’s Frugal Traveler
Usually the New York Times travel section is reserved for high end vacations with equally high budgets. As much as I would like to go on Argentinian wine tasting tours, they’re not really within my price range, much like most of the stuff in the NYT. But the newspaper doesn’t completely forget about us budget-conscious types, there is after all, the Frugal Traveler. Much like The Minimalist believes that good dining can, and should, be hassle free, Matt Gross (aka the Frugal Traveler) believes that you don’t always have to have a bank account full of euros to enjoy yourself abroad.
Currently he’s taking on Europe, the continent that has recently come to be said with an ominous undertone on account of the euro to dollar rate. In his Grand Tour he’s spending 12 weeks all over Europe and working with less than 100 euros a day. New columns and videos are posted every Thursday, and in this week’s installment he writes about Paris, and opting for staying in a Parisian apartment and getting to know the neighborhood rather than oggle at the glittering lights of the Eiffel Tower. Good tips and good writing!
Biggest drawing in the world… cool even if it is a hoax
This amazing drawing was the mastermind of Swedish artist Erik Nordenankar. On March 17, 2008 he sent a briefcase with a GPS tracking device and specific travel instructions with global shipping company DHL to create this incredible image. The continuous stroke totals out to 110,664 kilometers. Pretty neat… except for the fact that Nordenankar made the whole thing up!! But you gotta give him credit for attracting a whole lot of attention for it. Learn more here.
L’Auberge Espagnole
I wrote a synopsis of Auberge Espagnole for Been Seen last week, I am still wanting to book a ticket to Barcelona. Actually, it’s not that I want to book a ticket to Barcelona, it’s just that I want to recapture that moment of living somewhere else and experience those feelings of being confused and ecstatic all at the same time.
To be honest, it’s the movie that I watch when I feel things have become too routine; it’s a good reminder of why we travel and all the emotions we go through when we leave and when we return home again. Plus Romain Duris pulls off being a slightly awkward, confused, 20-something oh so well, and he looks good doing it.
Going BPA free… and fulfilling the yippy trend
Living in Portland it’s hard not to get caught up in the save-the-world-eat-organic-all-the-time lifestyle. We shop at farmers’ markets, wear organic cotton and like to spend paychecks on things that are environmentally friendly. My editor over at Matador Trips, Tim Patterson, recently wrote an excellent article on Patagonia (the place and the apparel label) where he used a great term for this whole phenomenon: yippie. What is a yippy? A yuppy-hippy of course, a category that I and a lot of my acquaintances fall into.
Being a yippie has recently made me aware of the BPA (Bisphenol A — let’s put it this way, it’s bad for you) controversy, which subsequently led to my purchase of this trendily designed Sigg bottle. It’s 100% recyclable aluminum, which makes me feel great and all, but since when did spending more than $10 on a water bottle seem like a normal thing to do? Maybe it’s not normal, but then again it’s not really normal to have a population running around with elevated BPA levels now is it?
At least my water bottle looks cool, it’s a good example of simple but functional Swiss design and I got to use my REI dividend. Like I said: yippy.
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