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.
Shantaram: A Novel
Author: Gregory David Roberts
Administering first aid in a Bombay slum, selling fake passports and running guns to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. Technically a novel, but closely linked to the Author's own experiences. Fantastic read.
From atop a camel at the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, we would like to wish you and yours a very happy holidays!
Wherever you may be, whatever you happen to celebrate, we hope your holidays and new year are filled with joy, peace and a little bit of adventure! Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Motley Mots by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
8 Comments | 24 December 2011
In the United States, International Women’s Day comes and goes without much notice. Not so in Estonia when I lived there a decade ago.
“Buying flowers for every woman in the office on International Women’s Day” was technically not written into every man’s job description. Neither was “picking up bottles of champagne and cognac.” But both may as well have been. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Motley Mots by: Audrey Scott
2 Comments | 8 March 2009
Can (wo)man live on dumplings alone? The answer in China: Yes!
Steamed, fried or boiled; round, crescent, or amorphous; meat or veg; thin-skinned or thick, dumplings in China form a universe all their own.
By no means are we experts in Chinese dumplings. That’s a life’s work. But we can offer a brief primer and the best of our dumpling experiences in China. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: China, Food, Motley Mots by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
9 Comments | 13 October 2008
In the midst of catching up on all things bureaucratic and beer in Prague, we opted for a week-long countryside interlude about an hour from the Czech capital.
Two country buses later, we were completely removed from the big city and found ourselves thrust into the pastoral – a slower pace of life. And thanks to a friend’s generous offer, we were immersed in the eclectic-bucolic aesthetic of a remodeled Southern Bohemian schoolhouse from the early 1900s. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Czech Republic, Europe, Motley Mots, Travel by: Daniel Noll
4 Comments | 1 September 2008
Wonder what it was really like to be at the 2008 Beijing Olympics?
Though we weren’t in Beijing to report directly, we did pose **nine questions to a friend who was. Nguyen shares his first-hand Olympic experience — including scoring 110 tickets, the simple joy of giving some of them away, an explanation of the empty seats you saw on TV, and how the Chinese people love an underdog. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: China, Motley Mots by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
5 Comments | 29 August 2008
We have been in Prague – our previous home – for a little over a week now. We’ve noticed our friends’ questions regarding our journey and current state huddling around certain themes.
Although we can’t succinctly recreate online the atmosphere of a Pilsner beer-driven discussion in a Czech pub, we can attempt to answer these questions with astounding brevity in case you’re also curious. [Twitter’s limit is 140 characters.]
1a. How do you stay sane while being together 24 hours a day? (Politically Correct Version)
Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Europe, Motley Mots, Prague by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
2 Comments | 17 July 2008
That’s Christmas in Bangkok to you and me. Krung Thep (City of Angels) is the Thai name for Bangkok, Thailand – the location from which we happen to be writing this post.
We first imagined this post being entitled Wishing You a Very Chinese Christmas, but a quick decision five days ago altered our trajectory and landed us in sunny Bangkok instead. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Motley Mots, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
4 Comments | 25 December 2007
We’re headed next to Qingdao to look for my grandfather’s birthplace and the house my great-grandparents built.
–explaining our travel plans in China to a group of expats at a Thanksgiving
dinner in Beijing.
The group appeared utterly confused. I don’t look like I’m of Chinese heritage in the least. So how is it that my grandfather was born in China? Continue Reading »
Filed Under: China, Motley Mots, Perspectives by: Audrey Scott
12 Comments | 10 December 2007
After surviving on more than three months of Soviet and nomad-inspired cuisine from the Caucasus to Central Asia, we’ve begun to have visions of our favorite foods and restaurants. Here’s a taste of what we’ve been craving.
Note: this fantasy interlude does not represent a “best of” and is in no particular order. Deprivation knows no logic or sequence! Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Central Asia, Food, Motley Mots by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
8 Comments | 10 September 2007
Changes to our home page, our erratic publishing schedule, and varied topics have thrown some of our readers off. It’s time to come clean.
We’re not actually traveling. We’ve been updating this site from a beach in the Maldives. We’ve fabricated all of our stories and grabbed content and photos from around the web and Photoshopped ourselves in where possible. Isn’t technology amazing?
OK, the real story.
For those of you who believe everything you read, that last bit was a joke. All the experiences are ours. And so is the content. Continue Reading »
Filed Under: Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Motley Mots, Technology, Travel by: Daniel Noll and Audrey Scott
No Comments | 7 September 2007
