Introducing a new blogger at Gadling, Libby Zay…
Where was your photo taken: Drinking a beer beside the Mediterranean coast in Salobreña, Spain.
Where do you live now: Baltimore, Maryland.
Type of traveler: I tend to be a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl, who (for better or worse) rarely does research and prefers to get on the ground and ask questions. I often snag last-minute deals and am a notoriously light packer.
Worst hotel experience: In Chişinău, the capital of Moldova, I stayed at a hotel that appeared to be no worse than most backpacker hostels – save for the fact that the shared bathrooms were nothing more than troughs that seemingly hadn’t been cleaned in weeks. The light switch was located in the hallway, and some little brat decided to flip the switch on me and ran away giggling. As you can imagine, I was left pretty helpless.
Favorite place: This is a toughie, because am a firm believer that every place has its own redeeming qualities and have never been somewhere I absolutely hated. That being said, once city that recently charmed me is the port town of Manaus in the Brazilian rainforest.
Where do you hide your emergency cash? My stash spot is usually in my bra. But if there’s a lot of cash, like when I had to bring home a month’s paycheck in Ecuador, I go for the shoes.
Scariest airline flown: Luckily I haven’t had any near death experiences so far, even in so-called puddle jumpers. My preferred mode of travel is by bus or van, mostly because I like to take in the scenery at a slow pace. This does, however, result in some harrowing experiences. In South America, a bus driver once came to a complete halt and – literally – jumped out of the window because of engine trouble. I have also been at the wheel while nearly running out of gas in the middle-of-nowhere North Dakota and when the driver’s-side door opened around a dangerous curve in Staten Island.
Most remote corner of the globe visited: This would probably be Puerto Bolivar, which is deceivingly not actually a port but instead a village in the Ecuadorian rainforest. It took a seat-gripping overnight bus ride and a butt-aching, four-hour canoe ride to get their from the capital. As always, it was totally worth it.
Favorite guidebook series: I’m not much of a guidebook person, but I like leafing through Lonely Planet and Moon for tips. I also dig the concept behind Viva Travel Guides, a series that anyone can submit to and attempts to be the “most up to date” guidebook.
When I’m not writing for Gadling, I’m… probably writing another website, mainly AOL Travel or City’s Best. In the off chance I’m not glued to my computer screen, you’ll likely find me doing one of the following: walking my dog, watching a band, or drinking a beer. The possibility that I’m on the road is also pretty high.
[Photo courtesy of Libby Zay]