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

TV From Everywhere

by Erik Olsen on

The Web is an amazing place. I know, that’s a rather absurd statement of the obvious, if not a completely useless platitude. But that is exactly what came to mine when I saw this site called Medinalia on a random click-stroll around media sites. I’ve seen similar sites to this before (I can’t remember where, though), but the thing I lie about this one is that it seems to be very well organized and nicely designed. Essentially what Medinalia does is allow you to watch television channels from countries and cities all over the world. They are listed alphabetically from (yes, Neil) Albania to Yugoslavia (what, no Zimbabwe channels available?!), and the various programs can be viewed by not just country, but also by type (i.e. Christian, Adult) and language (anyone out there eager to catch a little Papiamentu TV?)

I imagine one could spent a fair amount of time checking this stuff out. The only problem on my end seemed to be buffering. Maybe my connection today is slow, but it took a good long time to get some of these channels to play, and even then the experience was often frustratingly bad quality. But it is still a rather amazing grouping of lots of visual media from around the world and, well, the Web IS an amazing place.

World Factbook Updated

by Adrienne Wilson on

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been in an elevator and the permits were expired by a range of two days to two years. Why I take notice of those rectangular size certificates in lift boxes worldwide isn’t hard to comprehend, for the most part I don’t want to get stuck in one. I don’t fancy the thought of getting trapped somewhere in between my final destination and so it peeves me that those certificates are almost never updated. Anywhoodle, this isn’t a piece about the lack of attention or examination of elevators. Nope, not at all. Not even close. It’s about things that do get updated. Things we can count on and trust like the online World Factbook.

Updated as of July 20, 2006 there are a couple points of interest in this new edition. For example Serbia and Montenegro are both formally and officially recognized as separate Balkan countries. There is a new Appendix G which includes weights and measures. Some country maps introduced in the 2001 edition have been revised and regional maps have been updated to reflect boundary changes and place and name spelling changes. Most of you who use the factbook on a day-to-day basis have probably already been made aware of the new changes and for those who haven’t – now you know.

Graffiti Worldwide

by Adrienne Wilson on

Earlier this morning I went for a short bike ride with a friend of mine down Venice Beach while it was still pretty quiet and undisturbed by camera touting tourists. Strangely it was my first time journeying the strip of sand, surf, and shops on two wheels though I’d lived in surrounding areas for years not long ago. Normally my trips to the beach where spent kicking up sand, dancing to the beat of a drum and waiting to cheer when the sun kissed the edge of the water and the sky goodnight at the Sunday drum circle. The world beyond the circle was filled with nothing more than wandering lost souls looking to get a snapshot of the woman and her two aliens. If the people dancing in the circle seemed bizarre, then the folks strolling along the pavement were even weirder in my eyes.

As I cruised along the sidewalk listening to mechanics of the bike working with my feet, I glanced around soaking in my surroundings. Garbage flowing out of trash cans to my right and graffiti covered buildings to my left. I kept my attention to the left, not because the garbage to my right made the graffiti more desirable to look at, but had the garbage not been there at all, I would have marveled at the work. I never noticed it before, but it’s almost as if your can feel the pumping of a racing heart with each spray from the can. It’s as if there is this strange range of emotion embedded in tags left by restless artistic night crawlers, vandals, designers or whatever you wish to call them. My eyes searched for hidden meanings or stories, but finally opted to just enjoy the colorful legal and illegal works against the wall.

The thing is I’ve always sort of liked graffiti. I started thinking of various other places where I had seen it on walls, trains, or other miscellaneous places. So, basically what I’m really trying to provide you with not my overly dramatic romance blurb of a girl, a bike, and graffiti, but some awesome places online where you can check out art from taggers around the world. Wooster Collective is a popular one showcasing street art worldwide. Another one worth viewing is graffiti.org where you can see pieces from Gaza, Japan, Iran, and South Africa to name a few. Nice way to pass away the time and see the world from a different view.

The Happiest Country on Earth is…

by Adrienne Wilson on

For those of you unfamiliar with the reality TV series Survivor or have better things to do with your time than watch average folk battle it our for prizes and such by competing in gladiator type competitions, you may not be familiar Vanuatu. Perhaps, you’re fortunate enough to know about the group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean without the help of television and if you are you may also like to know that Vanuatu has ranked tops as the world’s happiest country. According to this Yahoo News piece, a study measuring people’s wellbeing and their impact on the environment has ranked Vanuatu at the top with Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, and Panama trailing close behind to complete the world’s top 5 happiest places to reside. Not really surprising if you ask me. Islands always come off as cheerful places to me and having been to Costa Rica myself, I could certainly see myself living there. As far as Vanuatu is concerned – I’d love to go there as much as I’d love to go to Somalia. Happiness is what you make it.

The Happy Planet Index is complied by the British New Economics Foundation (NEF) and also combines life satisfaction, life expectancy and environmental footprint to rank countries. Hopefully the results won’t drive herds of shutter-bug tourists to happy little Vanuatu or away from Zimbabwe, an African country my friend finds as one of the best, but ranks 178 on the list. The U.S. comes in at 150, Canada (111), France (129), Germany (81), Japan (95) and Russia (172).

What do you think? Agree or disagree? What do you consider the happiest place on Earth?

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of July 9

by Adrienne Wilson on

Time for us to showcase some of our favorite blurbs of the week in case you missed them. I’m guessing most of you dear and loyal readers, haven’t and I completely don’t understand if you did, but here’s another chance to review five.

5. Saving Belizean Music:
Thanks to Neil, Belizean music is remembered this week. In this short blog he points us to a LA Times piece on the sounds of local music in Belize. On top of that he also provides you with a link to get your own fill of these Central American tunes.

4. Saving Pics:
Everyone’s got their own method to saving their precious travel memories. Some will back them up three times on CD, on five different computers or you name it so long as they are protected. A few of us who are a little more trusting in modern technology can probably do without caring too much equipment in the name of protection and that is why I point you to this (oh-so) simple gear piece from Erik. The skinny – Flashtrax XT. Another cool compact option for photo storage on the road.

3. Machu Picchu Helicopter:
To climb or fly? That is the question in this chopper over Machu Picchu piece, where Neil invites readers to share their feelings on whether or not taking the ride up to the ruins is better than hiking. In short, we want to know if it’s cool or lame?

2. Road Trip USA Podcasts:
Here’s a good one if you’re planning a last minute road trip for the summer – Road Trip USA podcasts by Jaime Jensen. While the gas along the way may be high you needn’t worry about the podcasts costing you a thing, because if what Erik says is true, then they’re free. Go get some audio for the road to help you along the way!

1. Self-Erecting Tent:
Some claim it’s spankin’ new and other say it’s a thing of years past, but I’ve never heard of it so for me it’s on the spankin’ side. What am I speaking of? The self-erecting tent by Quechua is making pitching your cozy campsite digs a breeze. All you do is toss it in the air and by the time it lands your home-sweet-tent is all ready to go. Thank Neil for pointing to this fine piece of gear.