Karl Bushby’s Goliath Expedition

by Erik Olsen on

There are epic trips and then there are…well, there is Karl Bushby’s Goliath Expedition. Bushby, an ex-paratrooper is in the midst of undertaking one of those trips that truly flabbergast. He’s trying to walk around the entire globe. The self-declared stats he has on his site say it all:

12 years
36,000 miles
4 continents
25 countries
6 deserts
7 mountain ranges

But I guess those numbers don’t truly reflect the magnitude of this journey .And this being the 21st century ,you can go to Busby’s site and follow his journey in text, video, audio and photos. According to the site, Bushby, if he succeeds, will become the first person to complete an unbroken round the world walk.

The site says that Bushy is readying himself for the next leg of his journey, and he should be heading out from Russia sometime, well, I’m not sure when. He has apparently been having problems in obtaining the special permits required for the Chukotka region of Siberia. Here is the route is has taken and plans to take. Coming up from Tierra del Fuego way way up then over the Bering Sea and then all the way across Russia through Europe. The BBC has covered some of the story, and I’m surprised I haven’t seen more of it on US media. But maybe that will happen soon.

Driving Orientation Map

by Willy Volk on

Heading to another country? Going to be doing some driving? Then you might want to check out Strange Maps’ strange map of driving orientation. Plotted by whether a country engages in left-handed or right-handed driving, the map looks vaguely like a map of the former British Empire.

In addition to the excellent map is an equally excellent history of driving orientation, explaining why humans started driving on the left side of the road (think: right-handedness and swordplay), and why France helped promulgate right-handed driving (think: they didn’t just become ornery).

In short, both the map and the words are worth checking out. So check them out.

Japan’s Capsule Hotels

by Willy Volk on

Japan is filled with busy businessmen who may not have time to return home after a long day. Japan is also filled with precious little space (well…you know what I mean), so many hotels do not have large footprints. Enter Japan’s capsule hotels. Each “room” in the hotel is filled with several sleeping compartments, which are, frankly, just large enough for a person to slide into.

Sort of like a morgue with a fresh coat of paint, capsule hotels are a great way to offer ample accommodation in tight spaces. Purchase your room through a vending machine, hand your bag to the attendant, and head up to the capsule. Obviously, this isn’t the hotel to hit if you have (a) a large family; (b) a pet; or (c) claustrophobia.

Want to learn more? Here are some other bite-sized resources about Japan’s tiny capsule hotels:

I’d like to visit a capsule hotel, just for the experience. Then again, I’d like to visit Japan, just for the experience.

The World’s Most Polite and Rude Cities

by Willy Volk on

I don’t know how empirical this study is, but here’s the skinny. Reader’s Digest dispatched several undercover reporters in three dozen cities across the world. In each city, the reporters:

  • Walked into public buildings 20 times behind people to see if they held open the door.
  • Bought small items from 20 stores and recorded whether the sales assistants thanked them.
  • Dropped a folder full of papers in 20 busy locations to see if anyone would help collect the scattered contents.

The reporters awarded one point for each positive outcome and nothing for a negative one. The results of this “study” show that the top three most polite cities are New York, Zurich and Toronto. Conversely, Asia fared very poorly. Eight out of nine cities there finished in the bottom 11. Could this be a cultural thing?

The least friendly city? Mumbai, India. They may be rude in Mumbai, but they sure can cook.

When in the Manila Airport, Keep Your Pants On

by Jamie Rhein on

If you’re feeling annoyed when you have to go through airport security checks, particularly in Manila, whatever you do, keep your pants on. One German tourist, Hans Jurgen Oskar von Naguschewski, age 66, took his off when asked to go through an X-ray machine twice and he may find himself in a jail in the Philippines for awhile. Six years is the maximum sentence he could receive. Hans already spent a weekend in the slammer after he was arrested for doing his partial strip tease. If he was in a hurry to get to Frankfurt where he was heading, he was out of luck that the officials weren’t in a laughing mood.

From what I read, he became annoyed after being asked to go through the security check again. It must have been a long day and this was the last straw. It doesn’t sound like he was particularly violent or anything, just less clothed when he walked through the detector the second time around than the officials would have liked. I can imagine for everyone else waiting in line this must have livened up the day and helped them be a little more patient for a while longer.

If you are going to be traveling through the Manila airport, I came across some tips in the Virtual Tourist on Airport Security checks that might give you an idea of what might try your patience in Manila and reasons why it’s so security minded there. It doesn’t sound like the airport is much different than many other places in the Philippines and travelers have a variety of opinions about the safety measures.