Golf With a Twist

by Erik Olsen on

I’m not much of a golfer. Most of my friends can attest to that. I’m not horrible, it’s just that I’ve never really mastered the driver, a rather important part of the game. Also, when it comes to being outside, I much prefer hiking or kayaking to hitting a little white ball around a nicely manicured lawn.

But if golf’s your thing, AND you want to add a dose of adventure to the game, you might be interested in a show called Adventure Golf. The program follows around an amateur golfer named Ian Cross as he plays courses in Dubai, Japan, South Africa, Scotland, and Florida. After the round, he takes viewers around the local environs and shows them (one would guess) all the lovely poverty (except in Dubai) that skirts the course.

Photo of the Day (9/15/06)

by Neil Woodburn on

Localsurfer is always providing us with some great shots for our Photo of the Day feature and today’s is no exception.

This way cool tower is known as Glastonbury Tor and is located in… um… frankly I don’t really know.

So I Googled it and learned that it is found in Somerset, England and is revered for its mysticism and holiness. Apparently Gwyn ap Nudd, the King of the Fairies, lives here and those who pay him a visit get to experience some type of peaceful nirvana.

Whatever the legend which surrounds this structure, I think we all agree; it sure is a mystical shot.

Harry Potter and the Overhead Bin

by Erik Olsen on

Children around the globe breathed a sigh of relief yesterday when airport officials allowed author J.K. Rowling to board her plane back to London from new York. You see, she was carrying with her the manuscript for the latest Harry Potter book (number seven, I believe, tentatively titled Harry Potter and the Overhead Bin. The beloved children’s book author had participated in a book reading for charity on with other children’s book luminaries Stephen King and John Irving and was was told at the airport that the big box “bound up in elastic bands” could not go on board with her.

She refused to check it. An argument ensued during which time no wizards were summoned, no spells cast, and the official let her go, although there is speculation that some form of Jedi mind trick was used, if you’ll let me confuse my geek culture for a moment.

Photo of the Day (9/13/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on


While I don’t mind where I am now, I sure wouldn’t mind being here either. I love the cool lines of color from the turquoise water to the wet brown parts of what I imagine to be soft, sandy shore. Oh, and those fuchsia flowers! This beautiful photo of the day is compliments of Styggiti from his vacation in Dorset, England sometime in 2004.

Finding Travel Partners

by Neil Woodburn on

I’ve done a lot of solo traveling in my life because of a simply equation it took me a few years to learn; friends who have money to travel can’t get the time off of work, friends who have the time to travel, don’t have the money to do so. Throw in the fact that many of my destinations are very oddball places that few people want to visit, and you’ll understand why I travel solo so often.

Naturally, the web has stepped in to help out people like me. The Guardian ran an article last week detailing a website that specializes in hooking up solo travelers so that they don’t have to, you guessed it, travel solo.

Companions2travel is based in Britain and has 8,000 members from which to find your perfect travel companion. I guess it’s sort of like online dating except if you don’t like your “match” you can always jump on a night train and ditch them in Düsseldorf.