Checking in on Tom Haines

by Erik Olsen on

One of my favorite young travel writers around today is
Tom Haines, who does the travel writing thing over at the Boston Globe. He was a winner of the prestigious Lowell Thomas Award…last year, I think…and I thought the Crossing Divides series he did for the Globe was
absolutely killer. As a video journalist myself, I would have jumped on that gig in a second. Good for the Globe, too,
to send someone out to take on such an expensive, but fascinating and valuable endeavor.

Anyway, we’ve
blogged about Haines’ blog before, but we thought
we’d check back in with him. Seems he’s been spending some time lately in Latin America, with visits to Mexico and Chile. I was especially intrigued by the
Chile posts, since I lived there for a little while and had been the Pablo Neruda’s place myself, which Haines blogs
about. So pay a visit to Haines’ lil spot on the Web, and tell him we sent ya.

GADLING'S TAKE FIVE: Week of March 21

by Erik Olsen on

Hey ho, lots of great posts this week. It’s Friday
and time to take a quick look back at the best posts of the week here on Gadling. So let’s see, what do we have?

5. Anti-Tourism:  In this post, Neil alerted
us to the concept of anti-touriism, something I think we can all appreciate. Anti-tourists rebel against guided tours,
souvenir knick-knacks and anything else the smacks of consumerist travel. Music to our ears.

4. Red Corner: Hip Berlin: Then not soon before the
Ecuador piece, Neil talks a bit about hip Berlin. Berlin is one of the hotest, hippest cities in Europe right now, and
Neil tells us a bit about why that is so.

3. Family Rescued from Snowbound RV: Then
Adrienne alerted us to the story of a family that was stranded in the middle of nowhere in their RV. Surely one of the
odder stories of the week.

2. Travel Setback: Ecuadorian
Roadblocks: Well, first you have to appreciate the kind of first person reporting we get from Neil’s superb post on
his friend Tom, who is experiencing some travel trouble in Ecuador. Of course, trouble on the road is often what makes
travel such an adventure, and that seems to be the case with Neil’s friend Tom, whose efforts to move on have
been hindered by indigenous protests in the country.

1. Jamie Pierre Hucks Record for God:
Sorry, I don’t often put my own posts first when I’m the one writing the Take Five, but in this case, the
post warrants reading..or at least the story is worth checking out. Jamie Pierre, the extreme huckster…in the
literal sense…in that he “hucks” hiself off cliffs to the amusement of others…pulled off the
biggest huck in the world. Very cool. And crazy

Friday Funny: McSweeneys

by Erik Olsen on

Ah, McSweeney’s. Always good for a Friday chuckle. This piece by John Hallman takes a somewhat Python-esque look at the travelogue. Entitled Traveling Europe In Style With Auckland Dingiroo, Dark-Age Tourist And Critic Of Food And Drink, the hilarious satire pokes fun at food critics, travel writers and plague sufferers alike.

My favorite graph (among several):
Whether it be from the wrath of God, fleas, or the stagnant, foul-smelling water emanating from the city’s wells, nearly half the population has disappeared since I visited last. In spite of the smell of death, which has yet to entirely recede from the air, it did not take me long to appreciate what it was that keeps me coming back again and again to this little Frankish gem along the Seine.

Thank god for Friday, and McSweeney’s.

Killing Santa Cruz Island's Pigs

by Erik Olsen on

I’ve got a few photos around here somewhere of a very good friend
of mine stalking a feral pig on Santa Cruz Island. He has a machete like object in his hand, and he looks very
determined to go "Lord of the Flies" on us. The picture comes from a trip I took with some fiends to Santa
Cruz Island in the Channel Islands some 8 months ago. Of course, no pigs were hurt. They were far too fast for him. The
islands are a blast, though. We set up camp on the island and hung out for a few days of outdoor recreation and, well,
let’s say sedentary recreation.

Anyway, I
was amused to learn that the campsites on the island were recently reopened after being closed so that National park
Service gunmen could go in and try to wipe out the feral pig population on the island. There were LOTS of feral pigs out
there. We saw several families of them, running about, squealing, and generally looking both cute and disgusting. But
you knew just watching them, that they’d have to be gotten rid of eventually.

And so it goes.

Officials say the hunters have eliminated the pigs from about 85 percent of the land, and about 4,800 of them
have already been killed. My guess is they will never get all of them, but that once a year, they should open the
island up to fathers and sons who can go in with guns and kill as many pigs a they like. That way you both foster
family values and get rid of the pigs.

One for the Road: Traveler's Tales Prague

by Erik Olsen on

We haven’t done a ton of One for the Roads since Kelly
left, but I’m going to try to get one done every once in a while. I’ve got a whole bunch of books on my reading list,
or which I am currently into, but most of them are somehow related to work (i.e. a book on genetics that I’m reading)
or are just plain fun (I picked up Carl Hiaasen’s Lucky You the other day on a whim and now am plowing through
it). Anyway, I also just got my hands on a new book out from the good folks at Travel’s Tales. Called Travelers’ Tales Prague
and the Czech Republic : True Stories, the book is edited by David Farley and
Jessie Sholl and contains stories by a menagerie of well-known and lesser-known writers.  the names include 
Myla Goldberg, Helen Epstein, Jan Morris, and Francine Prose, among others. I’m psyched to read it, if just because a
couple of good friends of mine just moved to Prague and because I’ve been there a few times myself. So check this one
out if you’re a Czech republic fan.