Blogger Dave Seminara

Introducing a new blogger at Gadling, Dave Seminara...

1. Where was your photo taken: Chincoteague Island, Virginia

2. Where do you live now: Falls Church, Virginia

3. Scariest Airline Flown: Uzbek Airways. This airline is so disorganized that even a trip to their website will probably leave you with a virus. I flew the friendly skies of Uzbek Air into Bishkek, which is surrounded by imposing, snow-capped mountains, and was thrilled to make it through the experience alive. The only perk was that a beautiful, terrified Kyrgyz girl sitting next to me wanted to hold my hand for the descent and landing.

4. Favorite City/Country/Place: If you only have one favorite place, you need to get out more. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia; The Crooked Road, Virginia; Glacier National Park, Montana; Sonoma, California; Savannah, Georgia; Guanajuato, Mexico; San Pancho, Mexico; Amsterdam; Vienna; Rome; Gangi, Sicily, Naxos, Greece; Meteora, Greece; Istanbul; Bansko, Bulgaria, Ohrid, Macedonia, Hvar, Croatia; Tblisi, Georgia; Bukhara, Uzbekistan; and the Mogao Caves, near Dunhaung, China.

5. Most remote corner of the globe visited: Xinxiang province in far western China.

6. Favorite Means of Transportation: Trains. For me, travel is all about freedom and there is no freedom to move about on a bus, plane, car, rickshaw, bicycle, donkey or horse. If the person sitting next to you on a train smells like spoiled cabbage or wants to tell you about their hemorrhoid problem, you’re free to move far away from them. Travel by ship can also be sublime, but on a train you don’t have to worry about foul weather.

7. Worst Armpit: (Three-way tie) Port of Spain, Trinidad. There are plenty of good reasons why V.S. Naipaul left Trinidad and never went back. Pristina, Kosovo. A muddy, polluted mess of communist-era architecture and second-rate Italian restaurants. Gatlinburg, TN. A morbid, endless sprawl of fast food, mini golf, and tourist kitsch.

8. Celebrity you’d most like to sit next to in first class: Alec Baldwin, so I could tell him to stow his portable electronic device for takeoff and shut the hell up.

9. Favorite travel book: Paul Theroux’s classic The Great Railway Bazaar. When Theroux returned home from this epic trip, his wife had taken up with another man. An occupational hazard of the solo traveler.

10. You may become the leader of any country in the world. What country and why? How would you rule? You wouldn’t have to twist my arm to rule Liechtenstein. It’s a beautiful, prosperous country right in the heart of Europe and I assume that this job would come with some sort of Teutonic looking castle to live in. Also, as a tiny, micro-state, I imagine that running the place would still leave with me with plenty of time to travel and read. During the first 100 days of my administration I would: shorten the name of the country to something much easier to spell and pronounce, perhaps I’d re-name it Leo after my oldest son; then I would name myself the captain of the national soccer and tennis squads; and finally, I would declare war on San Marino, in an attempt to expand my empire while making it clear that Leo is not a country to be trifled with.

Another Day, Another Blogger: Introducing Andrew Evans

Where was your photo taken? In northern Iceland, on a dusty desert road between Jókulsárgljufur National Park and Lake Myvatn.
Scariest airline flown? It’s hard to beat Aeroflot in the 90’s, though I know some American airlines that are working on it.
Most remote place visited? I spent a week on Rangali-an island the size of a Manhattan city block near the equator in the middle of the Indian Ocean. It’s so remote it has it’s own time zone.
Person you’d most like to interview for Gadling? Paris Hilton. She travels a lot, she’s named after my favorite city and probably knows a thing or two about life on the road.
Hotel, hostel, or other? Other. I always prefer the alternative: private villa, houseboat, train berth, tree house, hammock, or somebody’s fold-out couch.
The most unusual food you’ve ever eaten? Pickled whale blubber, in the Faroe Islands. For breakfast. It tasted like French-kissing fishy grease from a brisket pan.
Leeches or mosquitoes? Leeches. You bleed more but they’re easier to catch with chopsticks.
Worst place to catch a stomach bug? Incredible India. You can get generic diarrhea anywhere, but India keeps traveling with you weeks after your exit stamp. Show me your dust-covered souvenirs and I’ll show you my amoebas.
On your next trip, you are forced to schedule a 24-hour layover. You have $200 to spend. Where do you go and why? Dakar. I’ve always wanted to throw myself into the whirl of that city.
Favorite means of transportation? Hitchhiking!

Blogger Stephen Greenwood

Introducing another new blogger at Gadling, Stephen Greenwood

Where was your photo taken? This photo was taken on the way up Kilimanjaro. I had the chance to hike it last November at the end of my stay in Tanzania. It was a great challenge, and a good introduction to trekking above 5,000m.

Where do you live now?. SAR Hong Kong. I’ll be here through the summer, editing a documentary about a failed orphanage in Tanzania.

Scariest airline ever flown? Ethiopian. Not particularly because it felt unsafe, but because I never knew if my bags would make it with me or if my next route would get cancelled without notice.

Favorite city / country / place? I think Stonetown in Zanzibar is pretty high on my list. Its culture, history and location make it a beautiful and complex place.

Most remote corner of the globe visited? I’m hoping it will soon be somewhere in Southeast Asia. As of now: spending a few nights in a Masai village for a rite of passage ceremony, several hours from any major town.

Favorite guidebook series? Sorry to be cliché, but Lonely Planet has led me to some great places.

The ideal vacation is… a small backpack, no electronics, a good travel partner, and a sense of adventure.

Favorite trip? Beside the family trips I took as a kid…When I was 18, I bought a 3-week Greyhound ticket with unlimited stops. I started from San Diego and worked my way as far Northeast as Boston and back through the South. I spent hours talking to some of the most interesting people in the country…people with stories that you just wouldn’t find using any other mode of transportation. It was great.

Other jobs? I work as a freelance designer & videojournalist. I’m also just starting to work with nonprofits to provide them with fundraising videos.

Celebrity you’d most like to sit next to in first class? Steve Jobs.

Blogger Jonathon Morgan

1) Where was your photo taken: In a living room, in a house outside of London. I think this was right before a trip to Sweden, but really, I just posted it because of that kick-ass yellow hair. (I’ve aged a little since this photo was taken.)

2) Where do you live now: Austin, TX. Land of the Armadillo, Leslie the thong-clad, homeless celebrity, South by Southwest, and an absurdly high number of hipsters per capita. It’s also the self-proclaimed “Live Music Capital of the World.”

3) Scariest airline flown: Ryan Air. I can’t believe that plane didn’t fall apart, and the surly Irish flight attendants nearly punched me in the face when I asked for a glass of water. On the plus side, it was cheap.

4) Favorite city/country/place: It’s really difficult to pick a favorite. Amsterdam is a great city, everything in Italy is beautiful, and the UK was my home for many years, so I’ll always think on it fondly. Even Texas is growing on me.

5) Most remote corner of the globe visited: Oshokoti, a town in northern Namibia near the Angolan border. It’s not that remote, but it was during a period of time when American tourists kept getting kidnapped on Angolan expeditions, so being that close made me feel like a real tough guy.

6) Favorite guidebook series: I’m not a big fan of guidebooks. A few printed web pages stuffed in my backpack gets me started, and I try to follow the locals after that.

7) First culture shock experience: Moving back to the US from the UK. I expected everything to be familiar, and it wasn’t.

8) The most unusual food I’ve ever eaten is… raw cow stomach.

9) Favorite means of transportation: I love traveling by train.

10) When I’m not writing for Gadling, I’m… writing about parenting, fitness, and style, running a performance company, and raising my 2 1/2 year-old daughter.