Speaking at Budget Travel Blogger Gig

by Erik Olsen on

Don’t know how many gadling readers will be around in the next two weeks or so, but the good folks over at Budget Travel have invited me to be a panelist for an upcoming round table they are hosting about blogging and travel. Called How Have Bloggers Changed the Travel Landscape? the event will coincide (not coincidentally, I might add) with the first anniversary of Budget Travel online, the sleek and informative companion to the travel-focused glossy.

Featured bloggers are yours truly, Mark G. Johnson of HotelChatter, Randy Petersen of InsideFlyer, and Joshua David Stein of Gridskipper.

What are we going to talk about? Why, blogging of course, and how bloggers have pretty much altered the course of history, how we have saved millions of lives, cured cancer and established an intergalactic system of peace and justice. And don’t get me started about the work I’ve done with Poincaré’s conjecture. I mean, I knocked that thing out of the park one day hungover at breakfast. Wrote it down on the back of a bagel…which I then ate. Yum.

Anyway, are you interested? Then come check it out. The event takes place on on Wednesday, September 13, 2006 at Tribeca Cinemas in New York City.

Word for the Travel Wise (09/01/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

With this first take on the Kyrgyz language here on Gadling I’m sure some of you are wondering where the heck I get the nerve teaching something you’ll probably never ever use. Some of you might be scratching your head wondering where exactly Kyrgyzstan is located and what one would do if he/she ever found their way in the country. My solution and answer to your question: First pocket this word for a special occasion. You never know when you might run into a person of Kyrgyz descent, especially in New York. Secondly, check out some of Neil’s fine pieces in our Kyrgyzstan category. That should be a good start for now.

Today’s word is a Kyrgyz word used in Kyrgyzstan:

kechiresiz – excuse, pardon me, or sorry

Kyrgyz also known as Kirghiz is spoken by about 3 million people. The lang is a northwestern Turkic language and together with Russian it is the official language of the country of Kyrgyzstan. It is also spoken in parts of China, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Turkey. Check out Wikipedia for background info. In regards to learning online you’ve picked a toughie if you’ve decided on making Kyrgyz your second tongue. This Learning Kyrgyz blogspot page hasn’t been updated in ages, but it may have some helpful links and words of advice for persons eager to learn. If you’d like to learn by listening try the BBC in Kyrgyz. My online suggestions will stop there for now. I picked this word out of my Central Asia phrasebook from LP. Pick one up for yourself!

DCP: Tajikistan

by Adrienne Wilson on

Why I didn’t think to check in with DCP (Degree Confluence Project) sooner than the day prior to my departure to Tajikistan, I don’t know. Too much else going on? As cool as the project is, I have yet to invest in a good GPS device of my own, but that doesn’t have to keep me or anyone else into confluencing from dropping into the site from time to time.

Looks as if there are 13 confluences in all and only one has been completed in the country almost two years ago. Considering the country is 93% mountain I’m sure some of these can be just as hard to reach as the many located in the middle of the ocean. The authors of the one completed in Badakshon note their trouble breathing as the air got thinner. Otherwise nothing really fascinating sticks out about their excursion.

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.

Word for the Travel Wise (08/31/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

By the time you read this I should have made it well off my flight into Dushanbe. Over the next few weeks while I build in partnership with Habitat for Humanities Global Village program and journey through the land, I’ll be posting a word from various Silk Road countries. I’ll start with Tajik tonight, which should be somewhat familiar to some of you and explore lesser known lingos as we progress.

Today’s word is a Tajik word used in Tajikistan:

samolyot – plane

Tajik is the official language of the country and is closely related to the Persian (Farsi) language spoken in Iran. According to Wiki the most important Tajik-speaking cities of Central Asia are Samarkand and Bukhara which are located in present-day Uzbekistan. In addition to giving interested language learners a taste at some commonly used words and phrases, the Great Game Travel Company has excellent info and short trips for touring the city of Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Be sure to check out the list of words first. If you’re near the University of Washington look into their Near Eastern Language Programs. Lonely Planet has a pocket-sized phrasebook on Central Asian lingos worth packing along and several other book picks can be found by clicking here.

Past Tajik words: rohi safed, mailesh, rahmat / tashakkur