Jun
25
Culture Xplorers
June 25, 2006 | Comments Off
Check out Culture Xplorers, whose trips “are all about people; about genuine interaction between travelers and locals; about understanding along with adventure. Instead of going physically farther than others to create memorable travel experiences, we go deeper, making real connections with the amazing people we meet along the way.”
Jun
25
Fact-checking questions
June 25, 2006 | Comments Off
A reader wrote in with these questions, and I’m hoping the rest of you can help answer them:
1. When reporting in a foreign country, especially where the language is a challenge for you, your source doesn’t speak effortless English, and you don’t have an interpreter handy: How do you confirm facts that are told to you in an off-hand, casual manner (e.g. by a concierge, tour guide or local resident)? Especially when you try to pin down the person to make sure they are really certain of what they’re saying, yet the language barrier gets in the way so they quickly say “yes, yes” just to get you off their back (perhaps because they may not fully understand what you’re getting at).
Jun
24
Hello from Kathmandu
June 24, 2006 | Comments Off
Here’s a 6/22/06 note from Michael McCarthy.
To all:
Just a word to say that I am alive and doing fairly well in Kathmandu. I somehow survived my 21-day trek with a Tibetan lama, 3 members of his family and 6 Tibetan horsemen to the Upper Dolpo region of Nepal, and if I ever suggest doing such a crazy thing again please take me out and shoot me.
We walked over 200 miles of some of the highest mountains on the planet, in the world’s most remote region, climbed four 16,000-feet passes, were robbed by the Maoist terorists of all our money, forded raging rivers, hung off cliff faces while following trails 3-4 inches wide all covered with dust and loose rocks, nearly died about a dozen times, lived with nomadic Tibetan horsemen for 3 weeks, and rescued six little abandoned children from tiny remote villages on the Tibetan plateau.
more….
Jun
19
Disraeli on travel
June 19, 2006 | Comments Off
Travel teaches toleration.
– Benjamin Disraeli
Jun
19
Flaubert on travel
June 19, 2006 | Comments Off
Travel makes one modest –
you see what a tiny place
you occupy in the world.
– Gustave Flaubert
Jun
18
Fam rates
June 18, 2006 | Comments Off
I realize familiarization (“fam”) trips are a double-edged sword, but for those who are interested, here’s a site listing travel industry discounts. Remember, many publications do not accept stories if the author has accepted discounted rates.
Jun
18
Wendy Knight
June 18, 2006 | Comments Off
Here’s Wendy Knight’s free online travel newsletter.
Jun
18
Diabetes Emergency Cards
June 18, 2006 | Comments Off
“In response to growing demand from customers with serious food allergies and other medical problems, SelectWisely now offers travel translation cards for medical emergencies and, in particular, diabetes emergencies. The new Diabetes Emergency card is used to communicate a serious diabetes condition, ask for a doctor or to be taken to a hospital. The card is a simple-to-use, easy-to-carry tool that travelers can keep in their pocket or wallet and use in the event of a medical emergency.
Languages
Jun
18
Pology
June 18, 2006 | Comments Off
The June issue of Pology is now available online. Stories this month are on: Italy, Philippines, Brazil, Scotland, Sri Lanka, Argentina and Hong Kong; pictorials are on: Thailand, Italy and Turkey.
Jun
18
New Orleans Public Library
June 18, 2006 | Comments Off
Do you have “extra” books around that would benefit from a new home? Thanks to Karen Misuraca for forwarding this information: the New Orleans Public Library is asking for hardcover and paperback books for any age reader in order to restock their shelves. Anything the libraries cannot use will be distributed to destitute families or sold for library fundraising.
“NOPL has been overwhelmed by the generosity of people across the country who have donated an estimated 1 million books of all kinds, conditions, and subjects. (Can anyone use hundreds of Russian grammar books?) We are grateful for this assistance, and will put all these books to the most appropriate uses possible. However due to extreme storage and staff limitations, we ask you to avoid sending books directly to NOPL.”
Jun
11
Emergency Preparedness
June 11, 2006 | Comments Off
I recently heard an American Red Cross presentation about emergency preparedness. It was the usual stuff we all know and mostly haven’t taken care of, like keeping a pair of sturdy shoes and a flashlight tied to your bedpost, and not sleeping underneath mirrors, but it got me to thinking about emergency preparedness for travelers.
In the Bay Area we tend to think of an emergency as something like the Loma Preita quake but bigger, or the Oakland fire. Preparedness is all about clearing brush away from your house, having canned goods and other appropriate supplies at hand, knowing how to shut off your gas supply, and trying to remember whether the “pyramid of life” technique does or does not reflect the current thinking about what to do during an earthquake.
Jun
11
Bay Area Independent Publishers Association
June 11, 2006 | Comments Off
Thanks to Judy Zimola for forwarding this link: “The Bay Area Independent Publishers Association (formerly the Marin Small Publishers Association) was founded in 1979 in the San Francisco Bay Area and incorporated as a nonprofit public benefit organization in 1981. BAIPA is an educational institution dedicated to elevating the art of the independent author-publisher. Membership consists of creative people who, under their press or business names, are involved in various aspects of publishing.”