Rough Guide to Blogging

by Adrienne Wilson on

The thing I like about Rough Guides is they’ve got a guides related to various travel destinations, but a slew of other guides to help you sort out some issues you may be having in figuring out what the best Punk music is to listen to or something like blogging. The cover art is what grabs me most from this new Rough Guide to Blogging title. Getting your own travel blog up and running for all your friends to come scope out while you’re on the road can sometimes prove challenging. Doesn’t the Eskimo with his laptop seem so lost? This 200-page guide will help you understand how RSS and newsreaders work, how to develop your online voice and explore video blogging and podcasting among other blogging related issues.

Looks as though the book would be a good buy for the experienced blogger and the newbie bloggers. ($12.99 at Rough Guides)

Inside Africa Vol. 1 & 2

by Adrienne Wilson on


TASCHEN books are some of my favorite to collect. If I had hundreds of dollars to blow I could easily do so on their website, but for now I’ll have to place some of these titles on my Christmas wish list or refrain from doing so much running to and fro’ to buy a few more. Of the more recent releases I’d like to take a peek at the Inside Africa titles. The two volume set puts the diversity of African living in the reader’s face. I’ll be one of the first to admit (and this is very sad because I have so many African friends), but when I think of dwellings found in various African places I don’t think modern for the majority. I see mud, clay, and earthy homes with wells and without running hot water. SO WRONG. While a good portion of countries may have tribes and villages with housing of this nature there are tons of luxury lodges, artist studios, minimalist houses, and so-forth. These two sets claim to have a good mixture of both and more, but with the eye-popping ink and paper stock TASCHEN uses I’m sure anyone flipping through the book would want to stay in a clay hut. Deidi von Schaewen is the photographer and it took a period of four years and fifteen countries to make it these Inside Africa volumes happen.

Countries featured include Egypt, Kenya, Botswana, Morocco, Réunion, Seychelles, Tanzania, Tunisia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Togo, Nigeria, and Senegal to list only a few.

Divester’s First-Ever Photo Contest!!!

by Adrienne Wilson on

Hey all! Our sister site Divester is having their first-ever photo contest and to establish who’s got the best underwater snapshot they’re asking the masses to vote. After receiving over 1,200 entries in the Divester Flickr pool they somehow managed to narrow it down to 10 very diverse and amazing water works. (Good job!) The winner of this contest will get a complimentary issue of Diving the World and the satisfaction of knowing they’re better than all the rest on Divester! Voting ends on Thursday, August 10, 2006 at midnight. Go vote now!

Just on a personal note: It seriously took me quite a while to place my vote. I was stumped. So many incredible shots, but there can only be one winner… Gah! Seeing I’m the biggest non-diver I know I really wanted to vote for the shot you see to the right here taken by Brad77. Looking at this picture makes me wish I too were an deep water adventurer exploring ocean caves, corals, schools of fish and I’ll pass on the shark encounters. While this piece added a lot to my imagination I still wasn’t sold. There are nine others to choose from. What was my final decision? I guess we’ll know once voting has come to a close. Maybe I went with it anyway.

Rough Guides Travel Phrasebooks

by Adrienne Wilson on

Thanks to Amazon.com updates I’m now in-the-know about Rough Guides Phrasebooks. They work much like the Lonely Planet
one’s I blog about almost all the time; small enough for your pockets, cheap enough for your budget, and filled with
thousands of words to practice on the locals. However, a quick glimpse at the Rough Guides language guides online shows
the publishers have a slight one up on my beloved LP books. Based on the language you are trying to learn you’ll find
awesome audio downloads of travel scenarios recorded by native speakers before you even make a purchase. They cover all
the widely spoken lingos in addition to some of the least spoken languages out there and have a pretty decent selection.
According to Amazon.com their latest edition of Hindi & Urdu is
scheduled for release on May 29, 2006. So if you’re eyeing a trip to India then you should probably be eyeing this book
just as much.

Why I wasn’t in-the-know before is beyond me, but I can guarantee I’ll be purchasing one to
test out for my next big adventure abroad.

Outside Magazine Preview: Miracle in the Andes

by Adrienne Wilson on

Nando Parrado’s story on the 72 days spent in the
Andes and the long trek home may not have hit book shelves yet, but it has most certianly hit my heart. Outside magazine has an exclusive excerpt from Miracle in the
Andes in their current issue with only a small fraction of the piece available online. For me the story is still
fairly new, others may vaguely remember, some might find it hard to forget, but Outside names it one of the greatest
epics of all time. The year was 1972 when a plane carrying a young Uruguayan rugby squad crashed in the Andes leaving
the survivors stranded and forcing them to subsist on the bodies of their friends. Nando Parrado, hero of the saga,
tells the awe-inspiring tale 34 years later in his book Miracle in the Andes to
hit shelves on May 9, 2006. If the piece found online isn’t enough for you make sure you scoop up the latest Outside
for more or check out the Q&A
with the author who touches on his recent return to the crash site, the book & movie Alive, as well his strange attraction to ice axes and
crampons.