Matador blogs

A Month in Uruguay

Domingo — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:31:31 -0500

Keri gave me a good idea...to get some ideas from you all on where to go for a month. If anyone has an idea on what to do in Uruguay for a month (I am in Mvd right now, but plan to travel around the country b/w Jan 7 and Feb 4th), please let me know! I am all (eyes) ears.

...

Tell me where to go.

Keri — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:17:11 -0500

I'm packing my bags and flying away in less than a month and STILL have no idea where I'll land.

Mexico or the Southern Cone? Or somewhere else entirely?

I surveyed my family over Thanksgiving in hopes that a definitive answer could come forth: Mom cast her vote for Argentina, only because the...

wanted photographers for cruise/photography class

earthdeacon — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:24:38 -0500

Earth Deacon Photography is proud to announce our spring time class for new photographers where you will enjoy getting some of the best photo shoots in the world while learning from some of the best photographers in the world!
Aboard the Carnival Triumph April 26 2009 to May 1 2009.
The class...

The Death of Exploration?

andy.schell — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:51:03 -0500

I'm reading the BBC website this morning about the 'invasion of Mumbai', as one author called it. I haven't seen any news of this as yet - too busy with Thanksgiving and football to even watch the news, and what I've seen has been mostly focused on Black Friday and Thanksgiving.

The front page of the...

Looking for the adventures that travel agencies don’t know about

CBRoque — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:55:47 -0500

On a recent trip to Bohol, an island in the Philippines, I found myself riding at the back of a motorcycle in the mountains of Sevilla and Sikatuna. The roads were steep, stony, and unpaved. But the view held lush shades of green and the mountain breeze felt cool running against my legs. Knowing...

High Water

Julianne — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:46:34 -0500

December 1, 2008

Woke this morning to sirens. It had been raining for days, and all night last night too. The sirens were announcing there would be aqua alta, high water, today. Sometimes Venice seems so quiet, with little ‘to do’. But when I think of leaving, I feel a...

Guangzhou International Tourism Festival

CptShtKckr — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:34:35 -0500

12/1/2008

Today is my 100th day in China! Its crazy to me to think that my first year of teaching here is already a little over 1/3 of the way over!

This weekend was the International Tourism Festival (or something like that) in Guangzhou. The Shenzhen Municipal Education Board had a bunch...

Walking Tours Manhattan

bruciebruce — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:17:19 -0500

Best way to see the city is with a native New Yorker on a walking tour.
http://www.walkingtoursmanhattan.com

Learning Spanish can Taste Good

Earthworm Envy — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:55:51 -0500

Traveler Brandon enhances his Spanish vocabulary between licks of homemade ice cream at the Paleteria la Paloma in Todos Santos, Mexico

Click here to watch...

Doh! A Deer!

JennyD — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:48:39 -0500

Expectation is an interesting thing and can be at the core of great joy or great disappointment and sorrow. It’s all in the mind. In the past I would create all kinds of scenarios in my head, usually about how a relationship might unfold, and then be bitterly disappointed when nothing happened. I could...

Jazz

Dana L. Brown — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:17:43 -0500

He was the young romantic.

He was the true romantic. He played ballads the way nobody else could play them.

They weren't sentimentalized, they were beautiful and they were deep. They didn't require a lot of hand-wringing. And they were different from anybody else....

Thanksgiving in Ecuador

jgbrandt — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:17:22 -0500

On Friday night my friend Becky came up from Loja, about 5 or 6 hours south of Cuenca, so that we could celebrate Thanksgiving together. I'd tried to get some other volunteers into Cuenca to have a little feast at my house/hostel, but Becky was the only one who wanted or was able to come in. It worked...

There Has To Be A Better Way...

terryodee — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 13:36:48 -0500

The thing I love, the thing I am passionate about, the mistress in my life is, creativity.
I probably work an average of 14-16 hours, 7 days a week. I do so because there is so much I want to get done. I am described as a 'workaholic' by some, whatever one of those is; antisocial by...

Trip to Bohol

CBRoque — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 12:16:37 -0500

Back home from our trip, which took us around 9 days. Below is the last entry I wrote in my diary. I feel that it captures my feelings about the trip, so I'm copying it here rather than writing a new one for the blog:

-----

Tonight is our last night in Bohol. I'm glad that we...

dubai living here for a year now... miss the US, but my eyes are open!

julzmode — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 06:21:31 -0500

Ok so i have been Living in Dubai now For over a Year. I moved here for my husband new job opportunity. I can Remember the night i Got off the Plane (nov 9th 2007) and thought goddamn it"s muggy, and what is that smell. Then came this music after tossing and turning from the jet lag and the curiosity...

Impressions of Ko Tao

gwyn — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 22:04:59 -0500

Ko Tao, 7 Oct ‘08

I’m sitting on an idyllic beach at Taa Toh Bay on Ko Tao, sipping a Singha and listening to classic rock and reggae tunes from the bar. The beautiful afternoon sun is glistening on the water of this quiet, palm-lined bay. Free of the...

Broome by scooter, 4WD and canoe!

travelgreen — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 18:45:28 -0500

Today we leave Broome for Darwin. We're getting a ride with a crazy German backpacker named Olly and will be spending the next four nights sleeping in the back of his car. I can't wait!

Before we leave, we're going on a kayak tour to see sea turtles and sting rays. I've been really looking forward to...

The Toddler Within

JennyD — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 18:16:48 -0500

The sun sparkling off the swell of the ocean, the light dancing on the blue ripples and the meeting of two lines of horizontal white waves racing together like the ignited wicks of two dynamite sticks end-to-end, compelled me to stop the car and park myself on a bench at Manly beach. These horizontal...

Breaking Down Stereotypes While Travelling

geotraveler — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 16:46:16 -0500

Your friend just returned from the trip of a lifetime - traveling around remote regions, being invited into homes of locals, feasting on ethnic spreads, and immersing in centuries old cultures.

Seething with travel envy, you sign up for your own life changing trip, only to arrive there and find your...

With Guns Pointed At 2 Women- Thailand-Cambodia Crossing

esl — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 12:45:43 -0500

Thailand-Cambodia

I had spent a couple of months traveling up and down Thailand beaches, from Bangkok to Puket via bus stopping along the way at all the suggested great beaches. Then by ferry to some wonderful islands on the Adaman Sea, and back to Bangkok then down the other coast enjoying some...

The OTHER Election: Redux?

deva — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 09:35:15 -0500

In the last 48 hours, Canada has plunged into the most exciting political drama of my lifetime.

Our new government, elected just 55 days ago with a minority of seats in Parliament, is facing an unexpectedly united Opposition. All three major opposition parties - described by one reporter as "the...

The poor savages....

roberts75 — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 05:58:22 -0500

Yesterday, I asked my Grade 10 if they would like to have friends in Africa, as my friend/colleague from WACA had just sent me a list of the kids' e-mail addresses. When my students saw the list, their eyes grew big and round, "Do they have INTERNET there?"

Oh yes. They do have electricity in Africa,...

Biarritz Bourgeoisie: 6 points to remember

saraj — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 11:46:02 -0500

Biarritz in the summer is madness but if you have a little padding in bank account and some organisational skills then it can be better than spending a week in St Tropez with more entertainment. In other words, it can be relaxing rejuvenating and a great party.

All That You Can't Leave Behind

jporter — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:27:41 -0500

As my departure date gets closer (just one week left now), my preparations have turned from practical to panicked. I am constantly debating which luxury items I cannot live without for 27 months. One "must-have" is music, as my ultimate tool for relaxation and coping. Luckily, with the...

On the road again.....

travelgreen — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 06:13:31 -0500

So I've escaped the working world once again, hurrah!

Three weeks working in Perth should have flown by, instead it felt like a lifetime. I am indescribably happy to be on the road again, backpack in tow. God knows how I'll cope with returning to fulltime permanent work. I say returning but really I...

The Camera of Life

JennyD — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 22:18:35 -0500

The temperature is soaring here in Sydney with the onset of Summer peering just around the corner. The long sandy beach near my home is beckoning all those who wish to take relief from the heat or want to touch up their golden tans. For the first time in years, this Spring I have ventured down to Manly...

7 Things I'll Miss About the Country

deva — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 21:12:22 -0500

I have just over two weeks left here in Verona. I arrived earlier than expected, thanks to Hurricane Gustav, and wound up staying much longer than I'd planned - thanks to a sequence of financial mishaps that I'm going to chalk up as valuable lessons* for a still-green freelancer like myself.

Anyway,...

Preparing For Ethiopia

jporter — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:00:59 -0500

After graduating from Furman University last spring, I have decided that the Peace Corps is the right ‘next step’ for me. There have been many long discussions with close friends and sleepless nights trying to decide what to do after graduation, but all in all it seems like this organization is...

Articles...

Dani_Redd — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:02:22 -0500

I sat at the computer for a month or so,drinking too much coffee, smoking too many cigarettes, and writing. And I got three articles accepted for matador travel- here is the latest!

http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/11/26/meditating-in-mexico-close-encounters-of-the-guru-kind/

I...

Poverty is Beautiful

Mattorero — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 11:33:21 -0500

Poverty is perhaps one of the world's most photographed tourist attractions. Travelers snap photographs of starving African children with both the hope of sharing the truth about destitute conditions - but also to end up with stunning photographs.

I've always been conflicted by photographs of poverty...