11 Winter Escapes That WON’T Leave You Bored

by Willy Volk on

Even if you love chillin’ at the beach thiiiiiis much, sometimes the thought of sitting on the beach for a week doesn’t sound like much of a vacation. While it’ll probably be fun…it doesn’t seem very exciting. And sometimes an exciting vacation is just what we need to get the blahs out of our lives.

If you need to get the blahs out of your life, Concierge has a ton of gnarly adventure ideas to jumpstart your blah-bashing vacation planning. For example:

  • Abseiling in the Dominican Republic
  • Snorkeling with whale sharks in the Galapagos
  • Safariing in Sri Lanka
  • Biking through Kauai
  • Bonefishing in the Florida Keys
  • Hiking Chile’s Atacama desert

And those are just a few of the great ideas on the list. Admittedly, many of the ideas seem a bit costly, but you can easily take one of the ideas and tweak it to fit your budget. For example, instead of heading to Chile, you could always go hiking in Big Sur.

Word for the Travel Wise (02/06/07)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Seeing this music video from the Sri Lankan Tamil born artist M.I.A. yesterday reminded me that it is time for a lesson in the language and also world music. Now based out of England, M.I.A. still turns her focus to her homeland, making music that makes you think as well as move your feet. If you’re just as unfamiliar with M.I.A. as you are with the Sinhala language, I suggest getting with the program – at least one of them. (See comments for both “yes” and “no” in Tamil.)

Today’s word is a Sinhala word used in Sri Lanka:

owu – yes

English is spoken by ten percent of the population and Sinhala is the official and national language of the country. I’ve actually never tried to learn this one much, but judging from the alphabet it looks like a challenge. Omniglot has a great starter page on learning all the characters and use of this English to Sinhala dictionary could slowly help in distinguishing common travel words. Let’s Speak Sinhala offers lessons at a very small and reasonable fee. They appear to be one of the better Sinhala language-learning websites.

Past Sinhala words: hari shook, a da, ga ma, ida netu, purusha, sthree, Senasuraa da

Photo of the Day (1/27/07)

by Adrienne Wilson on

I’ve never been in a rush to find a knight in shining armor to rescue me from my free-spirited ways of globe trekking to entrap me in a kitchen to cook salmon croquettes and rice pilaf, but this smiling bride on her wedding day and her absolutely contagious smile makes me think differently. Perhaps conjuring tasty dinners for the hubby every night isn’t so bad and just maybe I won’t have to give up my days of traversing the globe.

Ah, but yes, this isn’t about me and my sad romantic tales or what not. This is about the beautiful woman to my right named Thushita. Photographed by E-R-G-O on her wedding day in Sri Lanka he notes that a wedding photographer asked why he wasn’t using a flash to get rid of the shadows. He says… “I wanted a bit of the real world and that has shadows.”

Shadow or no shadow the joy spread across her face is a bursting ray of light. Congrats to the glowing bride and glad to see E-R-G-O placing these jewels in the Gadling Flickr pool.

Two Years Post Tsunami

by Adrienne Wilson on

This morning when I watched the news it was called to my attention that today marks the two-year anniversary of one the biggest natural disasters to occur in Southeast Asia. Footage of massive waves, bulldozing tiny tropical beach resorts in Thailand and water carrying the remnants of homes, vehicles, and those trying desperately to escape; glowed on my television screen. I cut the news off and retreated to my room. I wasn’t in much of a mood to see the sorrow mounted in the eyes of an orphan whose parents had been washed away in the ocean. I just couldn’t bear it so early.

Now as I sit hanging out on the web I see several stories remembering those who lost a great deal and how much progress still needs to be made. The International Herald Tribune has an excellent photo gallery displaying images of smiles from young girls like the two above whirling around in a playground (a donation by a relief agency), people playing volleyball on Thailand’s Patong beach, and then sad images as well. Most of Thailand’s beaches have been able to rebuild quickly, but other areas in Sri Lanka & Indonesia have been left to slowly pick up the pieces due to misuse of money (millions) and government corruption.

A drill system is being practiced across to Southeast Asia for future disasters and to commemorate the 9.3 earthquake two years back.