Photo of the Day (6.13.09)

by Brenda Yun on

I’m a sucker for the color orange. It’s long been my favorite color because it’s so fiery and bright but also because it’s doesn’t rhyme with any other word in the English language. That hue combined with my next two favorite colors, turquoise and brown, make me smile more than anything else.

Today’s photo comes to us from the Caffeinated Traveller and was taken in an art studio in China. There’s a cool symmetry to it, don’t you think? The round ceramic glass bowls, the angles of the paintbrushes, and the warm colors make a really fine image.

If you have some great travel shots you’d like to share, be sure to upload them to the Gadling pool on Flickr. We might just pick one as our Photo of the Day!

Human Rights International Film Festival

by Jamie Rhein on

A few years ago, in the audience of the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center watching A Closer Walk, a wonderful documentary about the global struggle caused by AIDS, I felt tuned into something bigger than myself. Reading New York Times film critic Steven Holden’s article about the Human Rights International Film Festival going on at the Walter Reade Theater through June 25, reminded me about that night, as well as, my day at the Cleveland International Film Festival this past March.

A film festival is an opportunity to view the world through a variety of lenses. In a summer of blockbusters where the popular theme seems to be horror and sci-fi—again, breaking up the fiction action with action that is real may give you that bigger than yourself feeling. If nothing else, seeing such films is an opportunity to see the work of passionate people who are like dogs with bones when it comes to getting a movie made about a cause they care about.

Besides, for people who are world travelers, heading to a film may shed light on some of the issues of the countries where one visits. Although one may visit a country, there may not be the opportunity to really find out what goes on behind closed doors, literally and figuratively.

Holden gave an overview of some of the films in his articlem and indicates that there is much worthwhile to see. You may have heard of some of the offerings. They are a mix of films that are new and others have been previously viewed elsewhere.

Because the films take in a range of slices of life in Afganistan, Ecuador, Pakistan, India and more–and often are about subjects that are not what one would think they might be about, they hold details well outside the sound bite version of the nightly news.

Here is a link to the films that will be featured and a link to the calendar to see when each will be screened.

Since I’m going to be in New York City next Wednesday, I have my eye on Regret to Inform, the award-winning documentary by Barbara Sonneborn. The film, nominated for an Academy Award in 1998 is about Sonneborn’s journey to Vietnam twenty years after her husband was killed there during the war. She set out to see where he was killed and along the way developed relationships with Vietnam war widows from the other side. Sonneborn will be at the showing and will give a talk as part of the venue.

If you do have a chance to head to the Walter Reade Theatre, take time to stop in the adjacent Furman Gallery to see the exhibit “Long Story Bit By Bit: Liberia Retold” by Tim Hetherington. Through photographs and writing, Hetherington has aimed to make sense of Liberia’s complicated past and present. The exhibit is another avenue to experience another person’s passion.

An artist is thrilled when people heading to a movie duck into a gallery to see his or her work as part of an event. The gallery is not open at night, so if you do want to see the exhibit, stop in before 5 p.m.

International CouchSurfing Day: Do you have a couch lined up?

by Jamie Rhein on

Ten years ago on June 12, CouchSurfing was born–or rather CouchSurfing.com was registered as a domain name and sleeping on the couch of people you just met became an organized system. More than just a way to hook people up with a free place to call it a night, CouchSurfing was created as a way to help make the world a better place.

See, if you stay on the couch of people who have agreed that they like people to stay on their couch as a way to get to know traveling types and expand their connections, the world becomes more friendly. When you make this a global scene, the power just grows.

As a person who CouchSurfed before it was conceived as an organized entity, I can attest to the value of staying with strangers. When I traveled across the United States with a friend of mine after we got out of the Peace Corps, we used our connections of friends to stay with their friends and family members. In most cases it determined where we headed and the experience created a sense that the U.S. was warm, welcoming and friendly.

Our couchsurfing found us staying in: Des Moines, Iowa courtesy of a home for wayward women; at a dairy farm in Vinita, Oklahoma, an itty bitty town; a bachelor pad in downtown San Francisco; and in a house near the beach in Carlsbad, California. At each place we hadn’t met the people before we showed up at their door (or they picked us up at the bus station). The rest of the time we stayed with friends of ours or my family members in various towns and cities in Kentucky, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and California. Her parents sprung for the hotel room in Seattle and Vancouver and we tented it Utah and at the Rocky Mountain National Park.

That do-it-yourself couchsurfing experience has prompted me to welcome other people who have needed a place to stay into my home which has added to the feeling of expansiveness. It has also created a rich bank of memories of the people who have stayed with us who live in other parts of the world. One of them, Rita Goldman Gelman, author of Tales of a Female Nomad has made couchsurfing an integral part of her life. She stayed with her when we lived in New Delhi and we visited her two summers ago in Seattle.

Without our connections, there’s no way we would have been able to afford this trip and would have missed out on what helped me transition back into a life in the United States (until I moved overseas again).

Thanks to CouchSurfing.com people don’t need to rely on their own connections which might be a paltry number. The whole world is ones oyster thanks to an organized, Internet based system. To date there are 232 countries, 59,929 cities and 1,168,136 people who are registered with couches.

To celebrate International CouchSurfing Day you can also begin looking for a couch in a place you’ve always wanted to go–or offer someone yours. Here are two events happening to celebrate the occassion.

For more Gadling couchsurfing perspectives check out Brook Silva-Braga’s experiences in northern Europe and Tynan’s in Haiti. Neil also vouches for couches and has fond memories of an experience in Kazakhstan.

AT&T works on travel transparency

by Annie Scott on

Have AT&T? Going somewhere out of the continental United States? Click here to find out exactly what it’ll cost you.

Phone companies have a filthy habit of not being terribly transparent with their mobile plans or landlines, i.e. you have all these fees and taxes you don’t expect on your bill, you aren’t sure what roaming costs and whether you’re doing it, and you never seem to know what you’re going to be charged for calling a random foreign country — or calling from a random foreign country.

I don’t have AT&T and sometimes I send text messages to Norway, and I swear it’s cost me something different every time. It bet costs my friend nothing to text back — it’s probably included in her insurance (darn Norwegians have it so good). (I’m just kidding.)

In any case, AT&T has taken some guesswork out of travel fees. You can visit their site and build yourself a whole itinerary of countries in which you’ll be using one of their phones and specify which phone, or even select the phone you are considering getting and the countries you’re going to. The site will immediately tell you whether or not they have coverage in that country for voice and/or data — they have voice coverage in over 215 countries and data in over 170, which is more than anybody else. They also have voice and data on over 130 cruise ships and 3G in 80 countries.

So, they tell you whether or not voice and data are available, and then you can click a little “details” button and they’ll tell you how much it’s gonna cost to communicate there. Straight up. That’s darn near enough to make me pay the $200 to get out of my current contract. You can also pay AT&T $5.99 per month for their World Traveler plan, which provides discounts on all those little premiums. If you travel a lot, that’ll save you bank.

Here are some additional tips for saving money when traveling abroad no matter who your carrier is:

  • Turn off your data roaming.
  • Use WiFi instead of 3G, GPRS, or EDGE when possible
  • Turn off the auto-check e-mail function
  • Reset your usage tracker to 0 when you get there so you’ll know what you’re spending
  • Don’t go downloading photos and watching YouTube, fool — it’s gonna cost you!

They’ve got international data plans if you need your YouTube fix. Seriously, AT&T wants you to travel. So: www.att.com/travelguide. It’s totally worth your while — and that’s a hint to step it up, other mobile service providers!

Kamehameha Day festivities in Hawaii

by Brenda Yun on

Local Hawaiians have plenty to be grateful for. We’ve got sun, surf, fun, and a cultural history so steeped in legend that sometimes we have to pinch ourselves as a reminder that we live in paradise. Yesterday marked the 62nd annual state holiday that celebrated Hawaii’s first king, Kamehameha I, who was responsible for uniting the islands. Kamehameha the Great, whose name means “The Lonely One,” left an indelible mark on the islands. His legacy is celebrated on King Kamehameha Day on June 11th of every year.

Here on Oahu there will be a variety of events held in downtown and Waikiki today and Saturday. Events include a Kamehameha Day parade, arts and crafts displays and a lei draping ceremony.

Friday, June 12, 2009

3:30 P.M. -Music by the Royal Hawaiian Band Ali`iolani Hale: Honolulu Civic Center
Prelude to the statue decoration ceremonies.

4:00 P.M. – Statue Decoration Ceremonies Ali`iolani Hale: Honolulu Civic Center
The statue of King Kamehameha I, in the City Civic Center is decorated with 13-foot floral tributes, which are created on site throughout the day by volunteers. Music and Hula performances add to the colorful display; a photographer’s delight.

Saturday, June 13, 2009
9:30 A.M. – 93rd Annual King Kamehameha Celebration Floral Parade
Colorful floral floats, glamorous Pa`u riders, outstanding marching bands traverse the streets of Honolulu beginning at King and Richards Streets, Punchbowl Street, onto Ala Moana Boulevard, merging into Kalakaua Avenue, ending at the Queen Kapiolani Park. Parade awards presentation will follow.

For more information, visit http://hawaii.gov/dags/king_kamehameha_commission/.

Over on the Big Island there will be a King Kamehameha Day Parade in Kailua-Kona tomorrow, June 13, from 9 a.m. to noon. The floral-themed parade honoring Hawaii’s monarch features Hawaiian-themed entries, including pā’ū riders representing all the Hawaiian islands, bands, hula and community groups. There will also be food booths, crafts and much more.