GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of August 27

by Adrienne Wilson on

It’s the beginning of a new month, but still the end of the week for us here and with that we bring you some of the week’s best:

5. Pilot Locks Self Out:
This is the kind of story one reads and rubs their eyes in disbelief. Sure it’s humorous, but somewhat scary too. A pilot locked out of the cockpit? How can that be? You’ll need to head over for more details.

4. Sex and Violence, Elk-style:
Iva Skoch wastes no time in making her presence known with this alarming headline. I won’t spill all the details here, but let’s just say its got a something to do with hiking and animal acts. Read further – I dare you.

3. Cape Verde:
I’m giving this plug on Cape Verde the number three spot because we don’t get around to Africa much and it seems like such an amazing place. (Understatement, yes – of course.) Cape Verde is beginning to attract interest according to this piece and you wouldn’t want to be the last to find out why would you? Go check it out!

2. Backpacking in California’s Sierras:
We love first-hand experiences here and Neil does a fantastic job on recounting his trip through California’s Sierras. Complete with photos and enough tips to help you plan your own visit out yonder.

1. Never Heard of:
Great post if you’re the traveling type that likes to wander into places no one has ever been or few people know little about. I know I’m one of them and this list from Budget Travel is worth clipping out and saving for later when an exciting destination where no-one will find you is much needed.

The Appalachian Trail

by Erik Olsen on

Ever since Bill Bryson’s book A Walk in the Woods, the Appalachian Trail has become de rigeur as a hiking spot in the United States. Not that people hadn’t heard of the AT and it’s infamous “blazes” (painted trail markers slashed on trees along the way), but he definitely make it more popular. The AT is about as fine a place to hike as there is in the US, with many various types of terrain and the chance to see deer, bears and lots of other wildlife. I’ve only been on a few limited sections of the trail, but it’s total length is damn impressive. It basically stretches the entire vertical length of the East Coast.

If you’re interested in checking out the trail a great place to go and gather information about it and to get a feel for what hiking the trail entails is the Official Appalachian Trail Association web site. It’s not as detailed as it could be ,but it’s a fine start. There are lists of books you can get, a general overview section and some trail stories from the intrepid folks who have done the trail…or parts of it anyway. Of course, there is more information there if you choose to become a member. The cost to do so is $25 (student rate) to $600 (for a lifetime membership. (Another good site is Fred.net’s state by state look at the trail.) At the very least it’s a good cause, as the trail truly is one of the nation’s treasures.

Expat Guide

by Erik Olsen on

Living abroad is one of the great experiences in life. I’ve lived a couple of places around the globe, if just for a short time, including Bangkok, Thailand, Santiago, Chile and Madrid, Spain. Don’t know where I’ll go next, but one of these days I’ll hoof my way outta NYC and do a couple of years in another country.

That said, living abroad and fully taking advantage of the city you’re in are two different things. In Santiago, I regularly ran into people (that is, Americans) who hung out only with other Americans and who kind of kept to their own comfortable environs. This is NOT the way to live abroad.

I have two suggestions here for you if you are considering a move overseas. First, check out the helpful series of books by the folks at Avalon Publishing. They are expanding their series all the time, but for now have nice books on Japan, Ireland, France, Mexico, Italy and more. I’ve taken a look at a few of these books and believe anyone thinking of making the move would be well-served by taking a look at them. Another good book group is the Culture Shock series. You can find more about them, and more about being an expat at this site.

Which leads me to the whole how do I make the most of living abroad question. The telegraph UK has got a list of events put together for expats in various cities around the world. The links here tell you about nightlife and cultural events and also help you with nitty gritty details like consulate info and such.

Planning is key when you move abroad, so take a look at some of these resources if such a move is on your calendar and, well ,good luck to you. It will be one of the best moves you ever make.

Lonely Planet’s Brooklyn Get Together

by Erik Olsen on

I got stuck at work last night and was pretty much set on just heading back home and collapsing in front of an episode of Lost or something with a bowl of Pad Thai on my lap. But then I remembered I’d been invited to this little shindig over in Brooklyn put on by the folks at Lonely Planet. Some free vittles, Stella on tap, so I figured why not. I boarded the L train and headed over and, as so often happens in New York, a little event that you hadn’t much thought about turned out to be a great time. I met, like, seven or eight Lonely Planet writers, and chatted with them about working for LP and the whole travel-guide-as-career experience (less inspiring than you might think…but, hey, you know you’d still give it a whack).

One of the guys I met is pictured here. His name is Robert Reid and he’s one of the writers on the forthcoming New York City book as well as several books on Latin America. His photo over at the LP makes him look a bit like Che Guevara’s studious little brother, but as you can see in the photo here, he cleans up well.

As a side note, I have to confess that an LP guide on New York seems a bit odd to me. I mean, LP books are always about places you go, where you escape. They’re not about where you live. But of course that’s downright silly. LP’s Frank Ruiz, their media maven (pictured here with colleague Cindy Cohen…and a good dude) suggested he’d send me a copy and I will dutifully review it here. After all, who better to judge if the NYC guide is any good than a New Yorker?

Anyway, the LP event last night was also meant to bring attention to National Passport month, LP’s drive to get more Americans with passports in their hands (a measly 25 percent of us have passports…what is wrong with us! If you don’t have yours, go out TODAY and get it. Yes, I know the lines are long at the passport office, but please, do it, it will be worth it). There was also a big motor home outside the Galapagos Restaurant where some of the crew from the upcoming show Road Trip Nation were hanging out. So I chatted with them for a while, too, and even got a DVD of the show.

An altogether prosperous night, philosophically speaking, wouldn’t you say?

Finding Travel Partners

by Neil Woodburn on

I’ve done a lot of solo traveling in my life because of a simply equation it took me a few years to learn; friends who have money to travel can’t get the time off of work, friends who have the time to travel, don’t have the money to do so. Throw in the fact that many of my destinations are very oddball places that few people want to visit, and you’ll understand why I travel solo so often.

Naturally, the web has stepped in to help out people like me. The Guardian ran an article last week detailing a website that specializes in hooking up solo travelers so that they don’t have to, you guessed it, travel solo.

Companions2travel is based in Britain and has 8,000 members from which to find your perfect travel companion. I guess it’s sort of like online dating except if you don’t like your “match” you can always jump on a night train and ditch them in Düsseldorf.