Travelers and art fans alike might be interested in
this piece in the LA Times about the
vast and numerous museums and exhibits available in Spain dedicated to the surrealist artist Dali. From the
theater-museum of Dali in Figueres (where the artist died) to Dalí’s home, which attracts 90,000 visitors a year, Dali
fans can get their fill of all the melting clocks and bizarre creatures that are rife in Dali’s work. The article has a
how to get there section and other useful info should you be interested in adding a Dali dalliance to your Spain
trip.
Mark Jenkins Hard Way
As a passionate reader of
Outside, I am always curious about the lives of certain writers for
that magazine. Some of the names they publish are legendary, people who’s love of adventure is matched only by their
ample skills as writers. Once such guy is Mark Jenkins, whose work
always dazzles.
Jenkins is a monthly adventure travel columnist for Outside magazine, and the author of the recent books:
The Hard Way, To Timbuktu and Off the Map. He
has a Web site that I discovered over at
Rolf Potts‘ site, and I spent a fair amount of time here checking out his work.
It’s a great place to get inspired about trip ideas and travel writing, should you want to pick up some tips from a
master of the craft.
Moleskine Journals
Keeping a journal is one of the best things you will ever
do. I’m not exaggerating. I’ve been keeping one since I was 16, and I have literally written over ten thousand pages in
an effort to account for many of the things I’ve done, people I’ve met,
places I’ve gone, thoughts I’ve had (more dumb thoughts than smart
ones, BTW…going back through these old pages can sometimes be embarrassing). BUT! That said, you will never regret
committing to paper or bits your life’s details. Trying to keep them all in your head is mostly impossible.
But if this is too burdensome, that is, even if you don’t keep a personal journal about your daily life, you should at
least consider keeping one when you travel. And one of the most important things about keeping a travel journal, is
having a good notebook to write in. If you scribble in a standard cheapo notebook, the pages will wither and fray, and
overtime your memories will be lost, to quote Blade Runner, like tears in rain.
That is where Moleskine journals come in. These are some of the finest, if
not THE finest journals in the world. Hemingway and Chatwin were both hard-core Moleskine fans, and even
Sean Penn is said to carry one as he leads his one-man
crusade to save the world. I was once a big fan of Letts of London journals (also fine books), but I have recently
switched over to Moleskines and am very happy about it. Check them out. They also make fine gifts.
The Pinatubo Treatment
How very nice of the folks over at sister site Luxist
to think of us. Even though matters of disposable income prevent us from indulging in many off the luxurious items they
often blog about, we still sneak over to their site every so often to catch a glimpse of what might be possible should
Bill Gates be your daddy.
To wit: should you be adventurous, butt also a bit of a glutton for luxury, you might find
this post on a Mt. Pinatubo spa of some appeal. The
spa sits beneath the volcano’s peak, so you can bask in its geothermal radiance while satisfying your sybaritic whims.
The folks at the spa, not surprisingly, offer treatments using the mountain’s volcanic materials, and treatments
include a sulfur hot bath, volcanic ash shower, and Chinese massage. Of course, if you want to hoof it up the volcano
itself, they can help you with that, too.
Six Months After the Tsunami
Today marks exactly six months since the tsumani’s made beaches and several other areas in
Southeast Asia a huge disaster area and though much has been repaired, a lot still
needs to be done, but for Thailand’s Patong beach that’s ready for your business, beach business owners are
struggling. NPR reports tourists from both Europe and Asia have slowed down dramatically. It is said
many tourists in Asia have stopped coming as they fear some of the bodies from the tsunami’s were not buried properly.
NPR has the full audio story for anyone
interested in keeping tabs on recent developments in events that have forever been in the news.