For those of you planning to stay inside tomorrow to avoid the shopping mall craziness, be advised that there are still some very good deals to be found without ever having to abandon your comfy jammies or leave your home. In my mind it makes good sense that there would be some amazing sales on airfare when everyone is out and away from their computers. Those sneaky airlines!!! Anyway, as I was getting to, STA Travel is having a Black & Blue Friday Sale and they’ll be discounting tickets to Latin America, the South Pacific and more. At least that’s what they claim in their ad seen above, but I’d seriously take the time tomorrow to take a look and see what’s really going on. Perhaps you’ll nab a great without all the headache of being on the streets.
South America
Travel through South America by country:
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela
Travel through South America by popular city:
Bogota, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro
Travel through South America by popular things to do:
Adventures in the Amazon, Falkland Islands, Iguazu Falls, Tierra del Fuego
Worldmapper
Here is a very interesting new way to look at the world. A site called Worldmapper allows you to view the various countries of the world in relative size according to factors other than actual geography. Consider, for example, the map I chose here which shows population. Now, everyone knows that India and China are the most populated nations in the world. But in this image you can see how much larger their populations are than other countries like the US by the size they represent on the map.
Wee countries like Panama and Chile and Norway and, well, Guinea-Bissau, just kind of disappear. But population is kind of the obvious one. You can also view countries by private health spending (where the US looks as bloated as a mid-western teen with a fast food addiction) and HIV prevalence. Pretty neat new view of the world, eh?
Homemade Sub to Central America!
Ok, so it’s not yet for rent for your next Caribbean vacation, but it’s an interesting way to travel, nonetheless. Authorities were alerted when someone spotted three plastic pipes moving through Pacific waters 103 miles off the coast of Costa Rica this weekend.
They found four men inside a 50-foot, wood-and-fiberglass homemade submarine. Oh, did we mention it had three tons of cocaine in it? It’s not the first time, either. In March, Columbian navy ships stopped a 60-footer. And back in 2000, Columbian authorities found a 100-footer, under construction. Apparently, the subs are used to rendezvous with speedboats that do most of the transport work between drug sellers and buyers.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that the sub had a glass bottom for sealife viewing.
Learn How to be a Traveling Webmaster
Roadjunky Guides really work hard at trying to help you work a little less. Not that they’re lazy vagabonds or anything of the sort, but if they can help find ways for you to assume the position as one then so be it. No, but seriously we’ve all thought about throwing in the towel on our place of employment to replace it with a lighter work load that even allows one to travel. Don’t try lying to say that you haven’t because I’ll never believe you. What I believe doesn’t matter. It’s about what I know and I tell you this, their step-by-step info on how to be a traveling webmaster could be your tutorial and ticket to Tonga, Thailand or Tanzania. I’ve always thought with a little extra time and dedication I could tighten up some of my own web design and related skills and each day I try though my progress is still too slow to ditch all my real gigs for life on the easy road. Should you have some time to spare and have considered delving into the world of web design, but haven’t a clue where to start, I’m telling you to start here. They’re going to put you to more sources to help you out, but they break it down to the basics much like About.com with some extra added flair!
Photo of the Day (11/19/2006)
I’ve raved here so many times about a place in Chile called Torres del Paine, that I’m just going to put a link here to some of my earlier posts. The Towers of Paine, located in the far south of Chile in the region known as Patagonia are part of a national park that ranks, IMHO, as one of the best in the world. And while I don’t understand the French that makes up the caption here, this photo, by Bajy, does a wonderful job conveying the majesty and scale of this excellent place.