Travel-Inspired Tattoos

by Mike Barish on

I spent 29 years on Planet Earth without ever getting a tattoo. Then, in March of this year, I took the plunge. Why? Well, for me, I was finally inspired to get inked because I had an idea that was special to me. It connected me to set of memories that I never wanted to lose and had a unique personal story involving two amazing trips that I had taken.

On the inside of my left forearm I have my last name tattooed in Hindi. While traveling to India twice in 2007, I had learned that my last name (pronounced baarish in Hindi) meant rainfall. And both times that I went, despite the fact that it was not monsoon season, it poured in Delhi. The running joke amongst my Indian coworkers and friends was that I had brought the rain with me.

Immediately, I knew that I wanted to get baarish tattooed somewhere on my body. I had several of my Indian friends in Delhi and in the States write the word on paper for me (I did not want any misspellings, or worse, a completely different word tattooed by mistake). I debated where on my body to get it, what tattoo parlor to go to and whether I should try to get back to India to have it done there.

It took me a year to gather up the nerve to get inked. Now I wonder why I waited so long. My tattoo is an incredible reminder of two amazing trips to my favorite country in the world. It immediately stirs up memories of friends, places, foods, smells and experiences. And it’s my family name, in which I take a great deal of pride.

I almost got another trip-inspired tattoo this past spring. That story is less sentimental and more comical. Though it could have been tragic. While out in Osaka, Japan one night, after several sakes and Yebisu beers, my friends and I met up with a tattoo artist. He introduced us to his friends and showed us their studio. In my drunken stupor, I actually thought it would be a novel idea to get a tattoo of the Yebisu logo. Thankfully, the studio was closing and no one was available to do the job. I dodged a bullet on that one!

Have any trips motivated you to get inked? Have you gotten a tattoo while on a trip? Do you regret that shamrock on your lower back that was inspired by a few too many pints of Guinness? Share in the comments.

Photo of the Day (9/11/08)

by Kent Wien on

It’s been a rough September so far, with Hurricanes Hanna and Ike dropping by for an uninvited visit to the Caribbean and the U.S. This shot by Rubys Host captures a scene in Brooklyn when Hanna passed overhead.

I got home yesterday after six days of avoiding these storms, taking off from Philadelphia on the day this picture was taken in New York. We also flew to Port-au-Prince Haiti, Miami, San Juan and Caracas, Venezuela. Each leg of the trip had issues relating to either Hanna or Ike.

So I thought this picture was an appropriate Photo of the Day. Here’s hoping Ike will lose some steam by the time it reaches Texas.

Nice job, Rubys Host!

Are you a Flickr user who’d like to share a travel related picture or two for our consideration? Submit it to Gadling’s Flickr group right now! We just might use it for our Photo of the Day!

Beijing Weathers the Weather and Pollution

by Josh Lew on

On August 8th, while the opening ceremonies were in progress, Chinese meteorologists had their eyes on the sky.

In the days before the Olympics, Beijing assembled its own Olympic-caliber weather team, choosing the cream of the crop from a pool of over 200 meteorologists. At one point on the evening of the ceremonies, the chief of these weather superstars, Guo Hu, ordered rockets to be fired to disperse rain clouds that seemed to be headed for the Bird’s Nest.

But the hot and hazy weather that came with the lack of rain was stifling. Though the air quality was better in Beijing than before the Games, the haze was still prevalent enough to cause concern. Some of the city panoramas broadcast by NBC on August 9th showed a haze that made Los Angeles look like the fresh air capital of the world.That’s probably why there were no rockets shot at rain clouds on August 10th and 11th. Not only did the rain ease the nearly 100-degree heat of the previous day, it doused the smog as well. Even as competitors in the women’s bicycle road race were skidding across pools of standing water on the roadway and crashing into water-filled ditches, commentators and athletes were commenting on how pleasant the air was. The air pollution index on the rainy days reached 38, well below the rating of 50 that the World Health Organization deems acceptable. By contrast, the pollution score was in the 70s last Saturday, well above the acceptable mark set out by WHO.

Xinhua News Agency, China’s official press outlet, says another round of rain will wash Beijing’s air over the coming weekend.

Thus far, the visiting members of the press have not made a big deal about the pollution. Most of the “glamor events” of the Games have been held indoors. When gymnastics and swimming end, the focus will be on the outdoor events of track and field. If the pollution index is high during the Olympic marathon, we may be seeing athletes don masks to keep the smog out of their lungs. Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie, once the favorite to win the 26.2 mile race, has already dropped out, citing worries about the dirty air.

Australia: Expert nature manipulators?

by Abha Malpani on

Australia is one of the most naturally beautiful places I have been to, specifically because I see it as nature in its most untainted form.

The country has the largest and most diverse national park systems in the world, that covers over 24 million hectares of land.

I lived in Australia for 3-years and what I noted more than anything was how most Australians love being one with nature: traveling, diving, the wilderness, being outside, camping, and generally have enormous respect for the environment.

This is why I find it partly ingenious and partly scandalous that the Australian government has invested AU$10 million to work on a technology to form new rain clouds from blue skies by generating ions in the atmosphere.

This new ionization system uses a ground-based device to attract water molecules that then condense and generate heat; this apparently gives rise to an atmospheric condition where clouds are formed naturally.

Sure, many parts of are in dire need of rain, and a different form of rainmaking technology has been in use in Tasmania and the Snowy Mountains for years. Although the system seems natural, and is for no other reason but to provide water where deficient for obvious reasons, it disturbs me to see expertise in manipulating nature.
Australia tops the list of naturally beautiful destinations, but if they mess with nature and “create” environments for whatever reason, surely that would tamper with the fundamental reason as to why they are beautiful in the first place, no?

Come Visit Portland, OR! Just Don’t Move Here, Please.

by Iva Skoch on

It rains here all the time, it really does. Do not move here, you will regret it! At least that’s what the locals want you to think. The more people move here, the more developed and expensive the city will become. While the “transplants” generally like that idea, a lot of locals dread it.

In terms of quality of life, Portland consistently ranks near the top of all American cities. Oregon seems to have it all — vibrant urban life, mountains, beach, desert, woods… without the prices of California. Not yet at least. I am actually in Portland this week and loving it. Since living here in the late nineties, the city has grown and changed a lot. The once edgy and artsy Pearl District–however fun and chic it still is–has become a sanctuary of rich white people, it seems.

In terms of rainfall, I am here to tell you that it really is not bad. I would take Portland over New York any time. According to a recent study, the Top 10 wettest cities are all in the Southeast. However, Olympia, WA ranks first in the number of rainy days each year (63). Olympia is only two hours north of Portland. See? Believe the locals, you don’t want to live here. Especially, I hear, if you are from California.