Jeff White: 1976-2009

by Willy Volk on

Dear Gadling Readers,

We usually avoid getting overly serious here at Gadling, but something happened recently, and we thought we should share it with you.

Our friend and colleague Jeff White has died. Unbeknownst to most of us, Jeff had been battling cancer for some time. Though he’d been in remission, the cancer came back late last year and spread throughout his body. He died at his parents’ home in Connecticut on June 29, 2009. He is survived by his parents, James and Dolores; his brothers, Gregory, Paul, and Michael; five nieces and nephews; and his wife, Nicki, to whom he was married for only three weeks. (I wince every time I think about that.) Jeff was 32.

A career journalist, Jeff was living and working in Berlin when we contracted him to write for Gadling in February of 2008. While all the bloggers at Gadling travel, Jeff was a traveling expat, which, in my mind, made him uniquely qualified for this work. He did not disappoint. Though he lived far from the rest of the team, he kept in close contact, and I considered him a good friend and a dependable co-worker. He was a talented writer, armed with with a quick wit, a global perspective, and a passion for travel.

Today, we’re going to pay tribute to Jeff, republishing some of his old posts that really moved us. We hope you’ll indulge us — and maybe get to know Jeff all over again. A good place to start is his “About Jeff White” post.

We love you, Jeff. You’ll be missed.

Blogger Kendra Bailey Morris

by Kendra Bailey Morris on

Where was your photo taken? At the 17th Street Farmer’s Market in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia. I’m a produce stand junkie. As soon as market season begins, you can find me sifting through piles of fresh veggies, meats and other locally made delicacies nearly every week.

Where do you live now? Richmond, Virginia, where I spend the majority of my days writing, cooking, and planning where to go next and what to eat.

Scariest airline flown? Can’t remember the airline, but you can bet I remember the flight. Went like this. Hopped a flight from Richmond to Newark. Plane takes off late at night. Enter massive Southern-style electrical thunderstorm. Plane gets tossed around like dice on a craps table. White knuckle it for about 10 minutes before huge lightning strike creates a power outage inside the plane. I begin bawling like an infant-complete with moments of hyperventilation. (I’ve never been a great flyer.) Plane finally lands. Exit aircraft, knees still knocking. Greeted by a cabbie, who takes me to a nearby bar, where I promptly buy a six-pack of Miller High Life and drink it in the backseat of the car. Note to self: check weather status before flying.

Favorite city/country/place. My grandmother’s kitchen in Bluefield, West Virginia.

Most remote corner of the globe visited. Spent the night on Arthur’s Seat, an extinct volcano which overlooks the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, with nothing but newspapers to sleep on, and a decent bottle of Scotch to keep warm. Woke up in the middle of the night to the distant sound of bagpipes and discovered a wild red fox sleeping next to me. Legend has it that Arthur’s Seat is the original home to Camelot, so to this day, I have always thought that fox was the ghost of some noble knight sent to protect me.

Favorite guidebook series. Been a big “Let’s Go” fan ever since college.

The most unusual food I’ve ever eaten is…raw monkfish liver. Tastes like a fishy foie gras.

When I’m not writing for Gadling, I’m…cooking, eating, or thinking about eating.

Favorite foreign dish? Restaurant? Poached beef marrow with coconut bread (served straight from the bone) at Poleng in San Francisco. Steak frites in Brussels. Doner kebab while walking the streets of London at 2 a.m. A bottle of cheap Bordeaux, a baguette and any park in Paris. Stewed Opihi’s (snails) at Paolo’s Bistro on the Big Island in Pahoa, Hawaii.

Favorite trip: Eloping to the Turks and Caicos to marry my husband, Tim, on Grace Bay in Provo, with an Italian couple and a handful of locals serving as our witnesses. Truly magical.

Blogger Stephen Greenwood

by Stephen Greenwood on

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 Sean McLachlan

by Sean McLachlan on

Introducing Sean McLachlan, Gadling’s newest blogger.

Where was your photo taken: In the artillery museum in the castle in Segovia, an hour’s drive north of Madrid. I’m researching a book on the development of black powder weapons and this place has a great collection of cumbersome old bombards, culverins, and serpentines. The castle has a tall tower that offers a great view of the nearby cathedral and surrounding countryside.

Where do you live now: Right at this moment (May 2009) I’m living in Oxford, UK, doing research on a couple of books. Otherwise I bounce between Madrid and Missouri, when I’m not traveling, that is.

Scariest airline flown: Not sure it was officially an airline, but the eight-seater Cessna that flew me over the Nazca lines was truly frightening. It kept banking to the left and right so the passengers on each side could get good photos, but mostly we just got slammed around. Then the Dutch girl sitting in front of me lost her lunch and the smell filled the cabin. I don’t get airsick, but I almost did that time.

Favorite city/country/place: India. The people are wonderful, the country beautiful, the food delicious, and it has an ancient culture and history to explore. I’ve been to India three times, even worked there briefly, but if you gave me a free flight to anywhere in the world, I’d go back there.

Most remote corner of the globe visited: Jaighan, a friend’s village in Uttar Pradesh. While it’s not terribly remote, it seemed a world away from the hustle and bustle of India’s big cities. It only has a few hundred people and felt perfectly serene.

Favorite guidebook series: I like the Blue Guides because they include a huge amount of information about art, culture, and history. They are a bit weak on hotels and restaurants, that’s not their focus, so for a good all-around guidebook I like the Rough Guides. I am not much of a Lonely Planet fan. Some of their writers have a cynical, world-weary attitude that comes off as elitist, and for God’s sake don’t trust the maps.

Worst hotel experience: Oooo, tough one. The Peruvian hotel with sand in the halls and no working bathrooms? The British bed and breakfast where the owner walked into our room without knocking? The Pakistani flophouse with the junkie staggering around the courtyard at all hours? I really can’t decide.

Favorite trip: The year I hitchhiked from Bulgaria to Nepal.

Traveler’s resume — where have you been: Belgium, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Palestine, Pakistan, Peru, Spain, Sweden, Syria, The Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.

Next trip: My next big trip is to The Gambia later this year. In the meantime I’ll be traveling around England, and possibly Belgium, The Netherlands, and Switzerland. Ethiopia is in the cards too, but probably not until next year.

Blogger Alison Brick

by Alison Brick on
Introducing Alison Brick, Gadling’s newest blogger.

Where was your photo taken: I was tapping into my inner Lara Croft at Ta Prohm in Cambodia.

Where do you live now: Berkeley, CA

Scariest airline flown: My scariest flight had nothing to do with safety or technical difficulties, and everything to do with strictly regimented attendants who stewarded with a heavy hand. As in: don’t even think about getting up when that seat belt light is on.

Favorite city/country/place: Italy for the evening passegiata. Outback Australia for the contrasting colors of the landscape. Thailand for the food.

Most remote corner of the globe visited: Possibly Torres del Paine, Chile. And the thing that proves it’s a small world after all: I ran into somebody I knew on the hiking trail. That blows my mind.

Favorite guidebook series: Something low-end, for sure: Let’s Go, Lonely Planet.

Hotel, hostel, or other: Call me crazy, but I like hostels. There’s something comfortable and lived-in about them–rarely sterile and homogenous like hotels. It’s easier to connect with other travelers there.

Favorite means of transportation: Tuk tuks! It could be the wind in the hair, or the careening through the streets between cars/trucks/bikes/motorbikes.

How did you get started traveling: Driving across the country on family road trips every summer when I was growing up. No A/C, full days of driving, and pulling into a town and trying hotel after hotel from the AAA book for a vacancy probably prepared me well for travel later in life.