You are How You Travel: Best Travel Stories of the Week
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From Nessie to Sharks: Best Travel Stories of the Week
Having just watch the heavily promoted movie The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007); I couldn’t help but to wonder about Nessie. The Loch Ness Monster is probably one of the most talked about mysteries in the world, which has brought up overwhelming controversies: is it really real? Is it just a merely overrated folklore? Is there a scientific explanation for Nessie’s existence? Or worse yet, is Nessie just a big, puffed up lie told by a circus mogul?
And the Winner is…
We might have underestimated the enthusiasm of our passionate writers, as we received an overwhelming number of great stories from all over the world for our $150 Writing Contest. Nonetheless, we were very pleased that the contest received an eager response from both writers and readers alike. We do apologize for the late announcement, but we assure you that judging a contest for these talented writers was not an easy task!
Best Travel Picks of the Week: April 19, 2008
Whenever I travel, I always want it to be a memorable holiday. And I’m sure you do too. But if I’m not traveling with a tour, it’s sometimes hard to do the planning by myself. Yes, visiting a whole new place can be strangely unfamiliar and just devastating—especially if you don’t speak the language. Only the best travel guidebook can show me how to whip up a cunning itinerary, and to tell you the truth, I owe most of my amazing travel experiences to these guidebooks. There are plenty of travel guidebooks tourists can choose from—Lonely Planet, Frommers, Fodor’s… just to name a few. But which one is the best? Which one will help you make the most of your holiday? Which one gives you the best insider’s tips in an unfamiliar country? Which has the best listings on what to do and what’s not? Michel from Travelnotes.org gives us his review of Travel Guidebooks, their plus points and the downers, and what exactly you should be cautious about when you have to rely on these books on your trip. (Photo credit: Flickr/leftbrokeneye03)
A TAWDRY Affair?
A Tawdry Affair?
Oscar Wilde once said, “What is bigamy? One wife too many. What is monogamy? The same.”
One of the many things distinguishing me from my Muslim students is our very different views on polygamy. For me, a liberal feminist type educated in the west, the very notion of polygamy is chauvinistic, insulting and degrading to women. My students, socialized differently in a different cultural context, find the idea more pragmatic than offensive. While I have not necessarily revised my own view, I will say that following the Spitzer scandal from afar leads me to wonder whether the polygamous system is not in some way more honest and aboveboard than the usual system of tawdry affairs that prevails in my own, my native land as well as seemingly all Western societies. I am aware that I will be shocking some readers here, but do let us engage in the debate, if only for the sake of exercising the grey cells. I welcome reader comments, particularly as I am very much aware that I am trying to present the views of a culture very foreign to my own, so factual inaccuracies or even my own ethnocentrist assumptions may sneak in unawares.
And The Finalists Go To The Judges
The finalists are now in the hands of our judges, Mike the editor from Vagabondish.com, Tim the editor for BraveNewTraveler.com and the previous two contest winners Olivia and Rowena.
This was another very impressive contest with an overwhelming number of submissions, many of which are going to kick off the next contest.
Let’s go green and keep it clean
Photo: Flickr/Smurfie77
Do you recycle? I know I do, so when it comes to traveling I like to check out my options in eco-friendly traveling. It is a fact, traveling has an impact on the environment. I was very happy to discover Eco Traveling, a place filled with great articles about alternative and traditional ways of traveling around the globe. It seems that the demand for eco-tourism is rising drastically. Even resorts are looking into how they could make their resort eco-friendly, which means it will keep the nature as natural as possible, without affecting it. If you’re looking into ecotraveling, you can find really good guidelines at Ecotour.
Fishing at Starbucks
Photo by author
Sitting at Starbucks on a Muscat beach and watching the fishermen getting their nets ready on the beach just across the street, sums up the duality that is Oman. Listening to light jazz, sipping one of the two-dozen choices of coffee blends, whilst 50m from me the air is filled with the excited screams of the ever-hopeful seagulls and a team of fishermen running seemingly aimlessly but somehow coordinated and accomplishing the magic trick of disentangling, then spreading out a fine at least a 100m long green net, dotted in intervals with cork floats.
Travel Picks of the Week - 02/15/08
Photo:Flickr/Elliot23
Travel brings wisdom and knowledge. Independent travelers were encouraged to share aesthetic and intellectual pleasures of discovery in the narrative contest held by Transitions Abroad. The winning entry was the heart-warming story, Education from the Streets of Giza.
