How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization
Author: Franklin Foer
Who knew you could learn so much about globalization, economics and politics from soccer? Great read.
Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
Author: Julia Cameron
One possible path to re-discovering the creativity you never knew you had.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, New Edition
Author: Jared Diamond
An admirable crack at explaining why the world is the way it is by way of an anthropological macro-history. This book probably comes up the most in conversation as we travel.
The Cathedral Within: Transforming Your Life by Giving Something Back
Author: Bill Shore
Inspiring profiles of social entrepreneurs and projects we all can learn from and hopefully replicate to give back to community.
Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation
Author: John Carlin
Although the storyline is built around the South African rugby team and the 1995 World Cup, this book is more about Nelson Mandela and how he was able to unite a divided country. Inspiring.
Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown
Author: Paul Theroux
The author re-visits Africa and re-assesses the place he once knew... and judges it once and for all. Well written, poignant observations of the thumbprints left by career politicians, aid workers, and everyday people.
Outliers: The Story of Success
Author: Malcolm Gladwell
A look at the internal and external factors of how extraordinary people got to be, well, extraordinary. One of those books that challenges assumptions and makes you think differently.
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
Author: David Oliver Relin
Incredible story of how a mountaineer and traveler changed his life around to build schools for poor villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Building trust and listening are key in making his projects sustainable.
Whereas we sometimes feel like we know the Romans and Greeks when we visit the ruined cities they left behind, the Nabataeans, the mysterious ancient civilization behind Petra, are people we need to meet. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Audio Clips, Jordan, Middle East, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
15 Comments | 22 March 2011
We’d like to think of ourselves as rather savvy when it comes to Italy, having married in Tuscany and having visited a dozen times throughout the last decade. But when a friend recommended we visit the Maremma region during our 10th anniversary trip to Tuscany this past autumn, we were intrigued. Maremma? Seen it on maps, never really paid it much mind.
Names like Pitigliano, Sorano and Manciano don’t usually roll off the tip of one’s tongue when talking Tuscan hill towns. Same goes for wines and cuisine from Maremma.
But that’s what motivated us to visit – unknown, hidden, maybe even a little bit wild.
Check out the audio slideshow below to find out what we found: Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Audio Clips, Europe, Italy, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
10 Comments | 9 December 2010
Some places are best suited to road trips. They speak: move at your own pace, get lost, stop off in small towns, have the flexibility to enjoy whatever experiences might come your way.
The area around Salta and Jujuy in northwest Argentina is one such chunk of perfect road trip territory. Listen and watch the audio slideshow below to find out why. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Argentina, Audio Clips, South America, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
16 Comments | 25 August 2010
One year ago today, we left our home in Prague to begin this journey of ours. Our first stop was Dresden, Germany where we found the Christmas spirit in its Advent markets on our way to Southeast Asia.
We have a soft and nostalgic spot for Christmas markets. We were first hooked by our experience nine years ago at the markets in Munich (Germany), Salzburg and Hall (Austria). The storybook images in our heads sprang to life there in the midst of snow-capped mountains as communities gathered at dusk to drink spiced wine, eat freshly roasted chestnuts out of small paper bags and shop for handmade decorations. Spices wafted from stalls serving waffles and candied almonds and gift stalls burst with nutcrackers and wood-carved incense-burning Santa figurines. Continue Reading »
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Filed Under: Audio Clips, Europe, Germany, Perspectives, Travel, Videos by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
No Comments | 6 December 2007
When you get there, you’ll meet the Afghan at the telephone pole.
These instructions given to us in Mestia by the Svaneti Mountaineering Tourism Center left us baffled. Is our mountain guide a member of the Mujahideen who’d lost his way and made his home in the mountains of Georgia? After all, in Svaneti just about anything seems possible. Continue Reading »
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Filed Under: Audio Clips, Caucasus, Georgia, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
12 Comments | 19 August 2007
We had high expectations of Georgia. So far, we have not been disappointed. The people are warm and the place is beautiful.
We spent our first day walking around Tbilisi, permanently lost in a sea of street signs in Georgian script (a beautiful script, but completely incomprehensible to us!). No shortage of friendly and genuine offers to help us find our way Continue Reading »
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Filed Under: Audio Clips, Caucasus, Georgia, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
6 Comments | 2 June 2007
