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

Music and Travel

by Erik Olsen on

Man, it was some time ago that I featured here a list of songs I most enjoy listening to while traveling. The list was partly based on some personal experiences with music while I was on the road in various places. That is, years ago I did the five day trek up the Inca Trail. I was drained and tired and beat. Even for a guy who’s pretty fit, the Inca Trail has got some tough spots. Anyway, I put the headphones on and heard Willy Nelson sing Peter Gabriel’s Don’t Give Up, and immediately quickened my step and pushed on. It wasn’t the title of the song, or the words…it was just the sound of Willy’s doleful tenor, some mix of his voice and the incredible surroundings that just clicked and created a moment of immense and meaningful beauty. Music and travel mix like that.

And then later that year, I was standing alone on a cliff over-looking the crashing waves on the Valdez Peninsula in Argentina, miles away from anywhere or anyone, and I head Pearl Jam’s Off He Goes, and well, my spirits soared, my chest puffed out, and my head whirled with the most wonderful feeling of freedom.

I guess the point of all this is that music and travel can create an intoxicating mix. Music adds a dimension to your experience in the moment that can lift your spirits and fill you with a sense of joy that is really incomparable. I was reminded of all this when reading this piece in the SF Chronicle about exactly that: music and travel. The writers sense of music and travel differs slightly from my own, but it is a toic worth thinking about as you load up your ipod for your next adventure.


Great Book: The Smaller Majority

by Erik Olsen on

I posted about this wonderful book way back when, but just dusted it off from my bookshelf and wanted to mention in again. The fact is, most of us who live in cities easily forget how much of the world is occupied by millions of little creatures who fill the forests, oceans, deserts, and so on across the globe. One scientist/photographer knows ths well, and he has published a lovely book of his photos about this little world of critters.

Called The Smaller Majority the book really lays out in the most vivid color how amazing the world beneath our noses really is. The book is the work of Piotr Naskrecki, the Director of the Invertebrate Diversity Initiative of Conservation International and Research Associate with the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. His 268 page coffee table-style book is filled with some of the most amazing images you will ever see. Really nice.

Speaking at Budget Travel Blogger Gig

by Erik Olsen on

Don’t know how many gadling readers will be around in the next two weeks or so, but the good folks over at Budget Travel have invited me to be a panelist for an upcoming round table they are hosting about blogging and travel. Called How Have Bloggers Changed the Travel Landscape? the event will coincide (not coincidentally, I might add) with the first anniversary of Budget Travel online, the sleek and informative companion to the travel-focused glossy.

Featured bloggers are yours truly, Mark G. Johnson of HotelChatter, Randy Petersen of InsideFlyer, and Joshua David Stein of Gridskipper.

What are we going to talk about? Why, blogging of course, and how bloggers have pretty much altered the course of history, how we have saved millions of lives, cured cancer and established an intergalactic system of peace and justice. And don’t get me started about the work I’ve done with Poincaré’s conjecture. I mean, I knocked that thing out of the park one day hungover at breakfast. Wrote it down on the back of a bagel…which I then ate. Yum.

Anyway, are you interested? Then come check it out. The event takes place on on Wednesday, September 13, 2006 at Tribeca Cinemas in New York City.

Expat Guide

by Erik Olsen on

Living abroad is one of the great experiences in life. I’ve lived a couple of places around the globe, if just for a short time, including Bangkok, Thailand, Santiago, Chile and Madrid, Spain. Don’t know where I’ll go next, but one of these days I’ll hoof my way outta NYC and do a couple of years in another country.

That said, living abroad and fully taking advantage of the city you’re in are two different things. In Santiago, I regularly ran into people (that is, Americans) who hung out only with other Americans and who kind of kept to their own comfortable environs. This is NOT the way to live abroad.

I have two suggestions here for you if you are considering a move overseas. First, check out the helpful series of books by the folks at Avalon Publishing. They are expanding their series all the time, but for now have nice books on Japan, Ireland, France, Mexico, Italy and more. I’ve taken a look at a few of these books and believe anyone thinking of making the move would be well-served by taking a look at them. Another good book group is the Culture Shock series. You can find more about them, and more about being an expat at this site.

Which leads me to the whole how do I make the most of living abroad question. The telegraph UK has got a list of events put together for expats in various cities around the world. The links here tell you about nightlife and cultural events and also help you with nitty gritty details like consulate info and such.

Planning is key when you move abroad, so take a look at some of these resources if such a move is on your calendar and, well ,good luck to you. It will be one of the best moves you ever make.

TT Writing Award

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s one I picked up from the good folks over at Written Road. Travelers’ Tales (whose books I adore) are launching a travel writing contest for the literary-inclined vagabond. They have started what they call the Solas Awards for Best Travel Story of the Year. This will be an annual competition to discover the very best writing being done about the world today. If you win, you can walk away with $1000 smackers. Or, you can win a copy of The Best Travel Writing 2006 and The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2006.

As WW points, out, Solas is an Irish word for “light,” which means, um, make sure you write with your lamp on.