Gadling Podcast: Joshua Davis

by Erik Olsen on

Listen to
the podcast

If you just took a peek at Joshua
Davis’ resume, why, you’d picture him in your head as some kind of fierce warrior journalist, perhaps six and a
half feet tall, strapping, handsome and fearless. In a word: Hemingway-esque. You’d be wrong. At least about the six
and a half foot part. And the strapping part.

You see, Josh Davis, a writer who lives in California, is
actually about five nine and 135 pounds. He wears glasses. And as you will hear, the resemblance to Napoleon Dynamite will not go unnoticed.

So why, you
might ask, would such a person attempt to fight bulls in Spain? Why would he compete in the world arm wrestling
championships (where, I might add, he would actually place…albeit fourth out of four). And why would this guy decide
to take up Sumo wrestling, a sport where if you took a really large Cuisenart, you could frappe Josh into a froth and
pour two of him into the shell of one of his opponents (good analogy? yes/no?).

Anyway, the point is that
here we have a man of the ages, a man of courage and wit and, as you will hear, a dose of wisdom. Is there a screw
loose somewhere? Well you decide. Because, yes, it is time again for another Gadling
podcast, and this time we offer you an interview with author, traveler, outrageous sports enthusiast
Joshua Davis.

Josh is the author of the recently-released book The Underdog : How I Survived the
World’s Most Outlandish Competitions. I read it recently and immediately emailed Josh to ask if he’d talk to
me. He graciously said yes. It is a wonderful read. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll run backwards.
And once you hear Josh tell his story, you’ll buy the book.
 
Listen to the
podcast

Read the first chapter of The
Underdog

Red Corner: Post Civil War Yugoslavia

by Neil Woodburn on

During the first half of the 1990s, the term Balkans suffered the same misfortune that befell Pearl Harbor, Vietnam, and Iwo Jima; the name no longer evoked a place, but rather a war.

Unfortunately, this is still the case in many people’s minds. Although the war that destroyed Yugoslavia has been over a long time, tourists-often the most timid of creatures-are just now starting to tiptoe back into the region. We posted recently about Sarajevo’s glorious rise from the ashes. Today, I’d like to send you a bit deeper into the former Yugoslavia to Serbia and Montenegro with journalist Simon Calder of The Independent (UK).

Calder uncovers a magical land with very few tourists (indeed, he only met one) and an unbelievably friendly and helpful people (including a taxi driver who insisted on buying him lunch before taking him to his destination). Calder waxes eloquently about the natural beauty of the region, and most impressively, about Kotor a walled town at the foot of an impressive fjord that also happens to be a UNESCO world heritage site. “Like a warm version of Norway,” was the quote that really inspired me to add this wonderful place to my travel list.

Bring Back Mungo Park!

by Erik Olsen on

I know this comes from out of
nowhere, but I was thinking this morning about Mungo Park. Not the little-known explorer who was the main character of one of my
favorite T Coraghessan Boyle books…but the
adventure travel Web site that was created using his name. By the way…if you’re ever in search of a great
book to take along with you on a long trip…read Boyle’s Water
Music…it’s one of his best.  

The site was started by the folks at Microsoft in the
early days of the Web, and it was not only one of the first online sites dedicated to exotic travel, it was a great
travel site. Featuring the words and wisdom of writers like Annie Dillard and Richard Bangs, Mungo Park was really
ahead of its time. The stories were bursting with photos, maps, other interactive elements. But like many content sites
in the pre-Google adsense era, it made no money, and so Microsoft shut it down. It was also a time of wincing at the
screech of your modem and getting rich media online was like trying to jam a cantaloupe down a garden hose. Now if you
go to the old Mungo park link, you get sent to Expedia.

I wish
they’d start it up again. In this brave now broadband world where video is flourishing everywhere, a new Mungo
Park would be hugely attractive. Would it make money? I don’t know, but I’d sure tune in. Yes, Yahoo and
Richard bangs have launched a sort of Mungo park redux, but it doesn’t yet have nearly the appeal or pizzaz of
the original Mungo park. I say to all the rich cyber-entrepreneurs out there: give us another Mungo Park!

Kiddie Carnival

by Erik Olsen on

Years ago I did the carnival celebration in
Bahia, and I can tell you that it was one of the most
exhilarating, phantasmagoric experiences of my life. I wrote a long piece about it which was supposed to be part of a book about my travels through Latin America,
but it stands alone nicely now as a description of the event. I know most people rave about Rio as the place to be for
Carnival, but let me tell you, Bahia is the place. But there is one thing about it: it
is mostly for adults.

Which brings me to this post over at sister site Blogging Baby. Writer Karen Walrond wants you to give some thought to
Carnival in a completely different place: Trinidad & Tobago. She says, and I believe her, that the party in T&T
is consistently rated one of the best Carnivals in the world.  The standard Carnival fare takes place: dancing,
scantily-clad women, pounding drums, and of course ample amounts of rum. But she also points out that in the week
before the adult-bacchanalia explodes, Trinidad hosts a Children’s Carnival. During
the pre-event, children dress is colorful costumes and boogie as best babies can. There’s just much less rum.

Africa Travel: Mali

by Adrienne Wilson on

Being a big fan of cliff dwellings, caves, and houses made from the Earth’s finer materials like clay and mud I decided to highlight Mali’s Dogon country. It was long ago when I first read about the people and their pink sandstone villages nestled high above the lands in beautiful complex architecture. The Cliffs of Bandiagara made UNESCO’s World Heritage list back in 1989 for being one of West Africa’s most impressive sites mixed with cultural finds from the people who inhabit the land and the area’s natural beauty. Safari’s are most certainly not the reason one travels to this particular African country, but for first-hand experiences with the Dogon Mali should rank very high on your list.