Blogger Martha Edwards

by Martha Edwards on

Introducing Gadling’s newest blogger, Martha Edwards, who comes from our sister site, That’s Fit.

1.Where was this photo taken? On the streets of Bangkok. I’m weighing up my breakfast options after a visit to the fruit market. That’s Mangosteen and Rambutan in my hand.

2. Where do you live now? Amidst the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, in Calgary, AB

3. When I’m not writing for Gadling, I’m… writing on healthy living and health sciences, taking about a gazillion pictures, reading, wandering the city or wasting time in a pub with my friends.

4. Most recent trip: I’m a wedding photographer so I just got back from a day trip to Lake Louise, near Banff. The last big trip I went on was to Australia and New Zealand -I just got back in March of this year.

5. Celebrity you’d most like to sit next to in first class: Hello Johnny Depp!

6. Scariest airline flown: Erm, my father was a pilot so does Air Dad count? Just kidding-I never felt safer than when he was in the cockpit. Laos Airlines had me a bit worried mainly because the whole country seems pretty disorganized, but the flight was actually pretty smooth. I guess I’m pretty lucky – having grown up around small planes and pilots, I’m a very comfortable flyer.

7. Traveler’s resume — where have you been? I spent my childhood exploring North America- especially Canada. I’ve been to Europe 3 times and Mexico 4 times. I spent a few months backpacking around Southeast Asia after university, and I recently took a bunch of time off to explore Australia and New Zealand. I’ve traveled more than most of my friends, yet I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of all the places I want to go. I guess that makes me a lifer.

8.The most unusual food I’ve ever eaten is…snake. While in Ho Cho Minh City, we went to a restaurant where they brought a snake to the table, killed it in front of you and then squeezed the blood out like it was a wet towel. Then they served you a variety of snake dishes (it does not taste like chicken.) Then you’re expected to drink the blood for good health. I can thank my friend Jenny for that experience.

9. Favorite means of transportation: I love flying. But as for my least favourite method of transport? Let’s just say that spending 14 hours floating on the Mekong River through on a boat that was to crowded that I literally had to hang off the edge was not all that awesome. The bathroom was an added bonus-it consisted of a hole in the boat in an area where the roof was only 4 feet from the floor, and there was a rooster inside. So, so random.

10. How did you get started traveling? While most kids grew up on fairy tales, I grew up on stories on African Safaris, of high tea in London, of the beauty of the open sky from the front seat of an Airplane. So I guess you could say it’s always been in me.

Blogger Kelly Amabile

by Kelly Amabile on

No foolin’ here! Former Gadling contributor Kelly Amabile has rejoined the team as of April 1.

1. Where was your photo taken: My first wave of departures began with Girl Scout trips to Boston, Montreal, Williamsburg, VA — and this one to Washington D.C. On one of these early journeys, the travel bug bit me good.

2. Where do you live now: Currently back in the ‘burbs of NYC where I grew up, a place they call The Town of Friendly People.

3. Scariest airline flown: Probably the charter flight I took to Cancun in college, although the details are fuzzy. One image I do recall is the cold Dos Equis someone handed me as I disembarked in Mexico.

4. Favorite city/country/place: It’s a rotating location love fest for me, what I call Lost in Place. Madrid, Budapest and anything around the Adriatic are my latest favs. But I’ll always be nostalgic for Baltimore and the good old Jersey Shore too.

5. Most remote corner of the globe visited: I know “southern Spain” doesn’t exactly sound remote, but a farm I worked on nestled high in the Alpujarras was as secluded as I’ve ever been. Only the clouds (and the chickens) knew where I was.

6. Favorite guidebook series: I’m partial to purchasing Lonely Planet guides, but I always flip through several other series (Rough Guides, Rick Steves, Moon Handbooks) at a library or bookstore before a trip.

7. Hotel, hostel, or other? Get creative! I love alternative lodging and living with locals — couchsurfing, homestays, agriturismos, family-run villas or just visiting with friends and family who live in cool or unheard of places.

8. Favorite means of transportation: Besides my own two feet? A funicular of course!

9. Favorite foreign dish: Any home-cooked meal prepared by local hosts, no matter how leery I may be of trying what is on the table. As long as there is decent wine to sip along with it, this reformed picky eater will try anything once.

10. When I’m not writing for Gadling, I’m: …writing, walking, hiking, reading, exploring, people watching. And did I mention writing? Call me curious Kel: an enthusiastic journaler and global observer just making my way through this world one page (or post) at a time.

New Gadling Writer Bios

by Neil Woodburn on

As many of you have probably noticed, we’ve brought in a number of new writers here at Gadling. In an effort to properly introduce them, each has been presented with ten travel related questions and each has posted their answers below.

In this way, we hope you can learn a little more about the Gadling writers and what makes them tick. As an added bonus, we’ve also included photographs so you can put a face to our posts (be sure to check out Willy’s stylin’ tube socks from the 80’s).

And lastly, just in case you want to regularly refer back to see which genius/moron penned that brilliant/erroneous post, we’ve added a new category under Features called, About the Bloggers. Simply click and all our happy bios will once again flood your screen.

Enjoy!

Blogger Jonathon Morgan

by Jonathon Morgan on

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.

Blogger Jamie Rhein

by Jamie Rhein on

1. Where was your photo taken: In front of City Palace in Udaipur, India. This is a version of dressing up in Wild West clothes at an amusement park to get a family portrait. I’m the one holding our son who is now 5. We could have made a fortune if we had charged the tourists who kept wanting to take his picture a dollar a piece. For those of you wondering about traveling with kids, he was not yet a year old. Our daughter was eight.

2. Where do you live now: Columbus, Ohio–and a good part of the time in my head.

3. Scariest airline flown: Air Mali –dubbed Air Maybe. Maybe the plane will come and maybe it won’t. I was trying to get out of Timbucktu so I could make the train from Bamako, Mali to Dakar before my visa to Senegal expired.

4. Favorite city/country/place: Where there is something new to see. If good friends and a glass of wine are involved, plus an art museum, a nifty store or stall that sells folk art AND a restaurant with ethnic food, even better.

5. Most remote corner of the globe visited: Ladakh, India. My husband and I did a group tour trek through the Markha Valley to the top of Kongmaru La Pass, a place you can only get to a few months out of the year. It was hard enough making it without the snow.

6. Favorite guidebook series: I’m a fan of Lonely Planet. Once, though, when I traveled across the U.S., mostly by bus, Let’s Go USA was terrific. Besides that, I love brochures. I have boxes of them.

7. How did you get interested in travel writing: It’s a perfect way to mix the things I have a passion for–writing, culture, people and travel. The world is a fascinating place and writing gives me a way to mark what I see and learn.

8. Worst hotel experience: Arriving some place without a hotel room booked beforehand and then not finding one because all rooms are taken or taking a night train and not having a seat. It’s happened. These days, we make reservations.

9. On your next trip, you are forced to schedule a 24-hour layover. You have $200 to spend. Where do you spend the layover and why? Bangkok, Thailand. With $200 you can have a grand time. On the agenda: dinner at the Lemon Grass restaurant, shopping at Chatuchak market, a movie at theater on the 6th floor of the Emporium shopping center, a canal boat ride, a Thai massage (including a facial) and coffee at the Oriental Hotel with a seat by the window that overlooks the water.

10. Ideal vacation: Somewhere I haven’t been before and where my family comes along. It’s a place where each day brings a surprise that I didn’t expect. The morning has a terrific cup of coffee and a balcony to enjoy the view. Also, it’s warm and sunny. If the night has freshly cleaned sheets and a good pillow–heaven.