Category: Miscellaneous

Leaving your pet behind can be the most heartbreaking part of a trip.A FEW DAYS before embarking on our two month trip to Southeast Asia, Karen and I watched as we packed our dog, Tobi, into the back of her parent’s station wagon. They would be taking care of her while we were gone.In the two years we’d had Tobi, she had rarely been out of our presence.

What can mapping tell us about famine? The devil is in the detail. Or in this case, the distribution.For map nerds like myself, we tend to take in spatial information better than straight up numbers and statistics, and the World Food Programme, along with Development Seed, are mapping the wide-reaching effects of the famine all across East Africa.

Photo: Dane PhillipsLiving as an expat in Bangkok, Dane Phillips saw the recent protests firsthand – and wonders how he could still be so far away from it all.Ed. Note: This piece was written just after the military crackdown in Bangkok last week, and before the purported “return to normalcy” today.I LIVE ON THE edge of the protest site in Bangkok, and I watched much of the city burn from my office window this morning.

Exercises to train divers’ brains as well as bodies.THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT master free divers that goes beyond athleticism. Expert free diving is almost Zen-like, a union between athlete and environment.If you’re looking to master the sport, it’s as important to train your brain as your body. Along with regular exercise and instruction, these basic exercises should help set you on the right track.

Robert Hirschfield shares his living quarters with a sacred instrument.IN JERUSALEM, I lived in a room with a loom used by the woman of the house to weave garments for the Temple priests. A room that smelled to me of time travel. But to the weaver, the garments, the priests, and the Temple were all objects of the eternal, meaning they were not objects at all.

Reeti Roy shares about a favorite Indian snack.CALLED PHUCHKA IN Calcutta, golgappa in Delhi , paani puri in Bombay and gup chup in Orissa, these flour balloons are tangy vegetarian delights enjoyed by the young and old, rich and poor. Phuchka stalls are a place for neighbours, friends and family to meet and greet and engage in conversation.

Jon Clarke runs a marathon in Peru on one day’s notice.“DUDE, I’M GOING to do a marathon tomorrow,” Frank says. “Wanna join me?”I’m a little surprised. Frank is a lovely guy, but permanently half-baked. Of all the people I expected to run a marathon, Frank isn’t even close to making the list.“Frank,” I reply, “I’ll probably need a little more warning to prepare.

Anything’s better than seeing Borat’s junk again. Photo: alexnormandA common room, a television and cheap refreshments. A perfect night for relaxing hostel fun? Not if these films are in play. We’re quite keen to see your additions in the comments.The Lord Of The RingsThe LOTR films played non-stop in hostels in the early half of the decade and have surprising legs, especially in countries where new DVD’s are hard to come by.

Krautrock (as it has been derisively nick-named by the British) or Kosmische rock is a catchall term for progressive and experimental music from Germany in the late ’60s and early ’70s.IN POST-WAR 1960s WEST GERMANY, youth were seeking new ways of creating music that broke free of earlier styles and cultures.

Photo by SmoobsGabriela Garcia recommends you try these natural homemade remedies from around the globe before you dish out dollars for cough syrups and pain relief medications.YOU TYPICALLY WON’T find me in a doctor’s office unless I believe I am indisputably dying. I believe I acquired this attitude during my childhood.

Feature photo by libertinus Photo above by libertinusCabo Polonio is half mad and beautifully unusual.IF THE BRIGHT LIGHTS and crowds of Punta del Este put you off, escape it all completely for a few days of mellow madness in Uruguay´s strangest treasure.Cabo Polonio is a secret that is slowly leaking out, because once you know about it you can´t keep your mouth shut.

Photos: Benita HussainHe was standing next to me, both of us ankle-deep in the North Sea and squinting out at the waves.WE WERE LOOKING at the same things: the scattered line-ups, the neoprene-clad surfers, the building crests that would break and blow out into white soup.It was getting harder to tell where the sea ended and the gray sky began.

Caroline Treadway gives Matador a photographer’s view of America’s biggest bouldering competition.On the warm, windy evening of Feb. 12, a crowd swelled outside the Scarpa warehouse in Boulder to watch the final round of ABS Nationals, perhaps the biggest bouldering competition in the US. When the doors opened at 7 pm, the crowd spilled in and spectators dashed to grab seats.

Host country Costa Rica is looking to rock at this year’s World Surfing Games. To do so, they’ll have to beat a 40-country field, including a dominant Australian team.THE INTERNATIONAL SURFING ASSOCIATION (ISA) World Surfing Games will be held this year in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica from August 1st to 8th.

Photo courtesy of Adrian WallettMove over boys. It’s time you realize that girls can shred too.WHETHER YOU’RE a snowboarding fan or not, most everybody knows of Shaun White, who has won competitions and hearts around the world, flaming red hair and all.But if the average person had to name a female snowboarder, the challenge would get significantly more difficult.

You’ve got the body for sumo (or so you’re friends joke), and you know that wrestlers have celebrity status in Japan. Pele Omori breaks down what to consider before you quit your day job.1. You’ve got the right bodySumo wrestlers are no couch potatoes. Underneath the fat lies the muscle required to thrust a heavy opponent out of the ring.

As the media levels allegations of child labor and lack of coordination at host nation India, this year’s “Friendly Games” are beginning to look less so.THE 2010 COMMONWEALTH Games began on Monday in New Delhi, India. The 10-day event, which is similar in structure to the Olympics, was first held in 1930 and pitted 11 teams from the British Empire against each other.

One of the things luring you to travel is the same thing that motivates you to do anything else – women.THE PROMISE OF sex with a foreigner crosses your mind as you make your reservations, browse hostels online and pack your bags.Photo and feature photo: masochismtangoWill the women in the countries you visit be interested in you?

When you think of Halloween, it’s the kids you think of as being in costume begging for treats. Let’s hope these pups got treats for the dirty trick that was played on them!TAKING THE TREND of treating the family dog like one of the family to its logical end, let no one be left out for Halloween.Is it a pilgrim?

Maybe Manny Pacquiao will be able to make boxing popular again. It would surprise the hell out of me.PACQUIAO, THE FILIPINO boxer who is being held up as the sport’s latest savior, has done some very impressive things. On Sunday, he beat Miguel Cotto to win the World Boxing Council welterweight title and become the first boxer in history to have been champion in seven different weight classes.