Flying a dream: Urban Side

by Chris Owen on


In this flying video we see Jean-Baptiste Chandelier who has been a paraglidiing pilot since 2004 and wants to inspire us all.

“My goal is to share my paragliding universe with my videos, for make everyone dream of flying,” says Chandelier on his website.

Specializing in acro flight, Chandelier flys through Peru, France and Chile using a variety of aero-acrobatic maneuvers and stunt flying, taking advantage of thermal properties of air by bodies of water, beaches, mountains and urban city areas.

“I am happy to present you a video really important for me, the Urban Side. In this video i flight on some really interresting places, and i play with the people. I hope the people inside and out of the paragliding world will like it and share it.”

Urban Side from Jean-Baptiste Chandelier JB prod on Vimeo.

Gallery: A guide to South American cocktails

by Libby Zay on

Margaritas, Cuba libres, piña coladas and mojitos are drinks with Latin American origins that have become staples at bars across America. But what about the drinks being mixed up further south? Whether you want to know what to order up at the bar during your next trip to South America or you are looking for a way to raise the bar at home, these mixed drinks will leave you thirsty for more.

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Photo of the day: Ushuaia in spring

by Alex Robertson Textor on

Ushuaia, Argentina is the end of the line. Situated near the tip of South America, Ushuaia is the main departure point for Antarctic cruises. Though technically not the world’s southernmost settlement–that honor goes to the tiny town Puerto Williams, Chile–it is without question the world’s southernmost city, with a population, according to the 2010 census, of just under 57,000.

Flickr user Guillermo Esteves snapped this image of Ushuaia in mid-December, capturing Ushuaia in its full late spring glory.

Got an epic image of a far-flung place in your archives? Upload it to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. If we like it, we might just choose it to be a future Photo of the Day.

The world’s most ethical tourism destinations

by Jessica Marati on

Each year, non-profit organization Ethical Traveler conducts a survey of the world’s developing nations, analyzing their progress toward promoting human rights, preserving their environment, and developing a sustainable tourism industry. The study, run by Ethical Traveler’s all-volunteer staff, factors in country scores from databases like Freedom House, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the World Bank, then dives into actions that governments have taken to improve circumstances within their countries in the previous year.

The top countries are celebrated in Ethical Traveler’s annual list of the Developing World’s Best Ethical Tourism Destinations, with the hope that increased tourism will help those countries continue to improve. “Travel and tourism are among the planet’s driving economic forces, and every journey we take makes a statement about our priorities and commitment to change,” they say. “Ethical Traveler believes that mindful travel is a net positive for the planet. By choosing our destinations well and remembering our role as citizen diplomats, we can create international goodwill and help change the world for the better.”

This year’s list includes Argentina, the Bahamas, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominica, Latvia, Mauritius, Palau, Serbia, and Uruguay. Explore these countries more in the slideshow below.

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[Flickr image via Lisandro M. Enrique]

Photo of the day – Easter Island at sunrise

by Alex Robertson Textor on

Remote places are special. They certainly capture the imagination. Organized economically and socially around their distance from centers of commerce and distribution, they often share both a rhythm and many characteristics with each other.

Easter Island is one very remote place. The Chilean island, located over 2000 miles from the Chilean mainland (and another 2000-plus miles from Tahiti) is off on its own on the edge of Polynesia. Flickr user John Overmeyer snapped this impressive image of 14 of Easter Island’s mysterious Moai at sunrise.

Upload your favorite images of remote spots to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. If we like what we see we might just choose one of your images to be a future Photo of the Day.