Hiking the Pacific Coast Trail

by Erik Olsen on

America has some epic hikes, some of which get publicity, some of which
don’t. Bill Bryson made the
Appalachian Trail famous, or at least he brought it further prominence
with his book A Walk in the Woods. But the Pacific Coast Trail, while well known to the Pac Coast hiking cognoscenti,
doesn’t often make it into the media.

Well, here’s a story that ran in
the San Jose Mecury News about a small family that walked the train.  Fulfilling a years-long dream Barbara Egbert
(who works for the Mercury News), her husband Gary Chambers and their daughter, Mary, bailed on work and homework,
and set out on an epic 2,658-mile trek from Mexico to Canada. It’s a nice story. Or at least, a nice little
journal about the hike and what’s in store for those brave (or with enough free time) to take it on.  

Red Bear Tours

by Erik Olsen on

Take a ride the
Trans-Siberian railway
aboard the fast train or skorry poezd, and kick back enjoying the scenery as you read War in Peace.
Red Bear Tours has been operating a wide variety of
programs into Russia since 1989.

Take one of these journeys from either Vladivostok or Beijing to St Petersburg and the reverse. Take notes
and pretend you are Paul Theroux Riding the Red Rooster.

Travel Writing Seminar

by Erik Olsen on

Media Bistro has really grown over the years into a very
useful place for getting the scuttlebutt about what’s happening in the media world. I’ve become something of an addict
myself, and often check up on what they’re doing. For a while now, they’ve offered classes and seminars on how to write
for various publications and within certain genres and while I haven’t taken any of these (yet), I am told by a few
friends that they can be quite useful to help jumpstart a career or provide useful tips for a working writer.

So travel writing aspirants might be interested in MB’s class on
travel writing, which takes place in Cambridge
tonight. It is taught by Wendy Knight, an accomplished travel writer from
Vermont.  

Flying Over the Alps – Sans Plane

by Erik Olsen on

Several years ago I saw a movie at an outdoor film festival about two guys
who took paragliders over the Dolomites. It was an extraordinary film, visually speaking, and planted the
seed that has made me want to try paragliding someday. (quick note: I actually did get to paraglide once, way
back when I lived in Chile, but it was a tandem flight with a friend and it didn’t last very long. Also, it wasn’t over
the Dolomites. I don’t really count that.)

 

Anyway, after seeing this site I thought again about paragliding, and how cool it would be to soar over the Alps. If
you now what you’re doing, you can go to a place like the
Verbier Summits, which offers
luxury Alpine paragliding and hang-gliding holidays. Or you can take lessons in the French Alps at a place
like this.  Very cool.

Bowermaster on the Maldives

by Erik Olsen on

A sweet little
interactive feature
in the Times by one of our favorites: Jon Bowermaster.

 

Bowermaster headed to the Maldives to report on the state of these little islands which, as many people know, may
very well cease to exist in the future should sea levels rise even a small amount. The photos are excellent and
Bowermaster delivers a solid (and short) audio commentary on the state of things there.
Check it out.