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.
I believe penguins are the answer to world peace.
– Heidi Krajewsky, resident ornithologist (bird gal) aboard the MS Expedition to Antarctica
Our challenge to you: read this, watch the slideshow, check out the video — and maintain a straight face. Continue Reading »
Life’s journeys play host to the constant battle of expectations and delivery. Antarctica was no different except that our expectations of it were within inches of the stratosphere given the mystique and the cost of the trip. However, we did not carry a must-see checklist outlining this bit of wildlife or that bit of landscape, this scene or that moment. We could not really quantify our desires — we had simply hoped to be overwhelmed.
Then, on that first Antarctic morning, we stepped foot off the gangway of the MS Expedition and into a zodiac. It was clear that we were about to be blown away — but in a way that none of us had quite expected.
Continue Reading »
Throughout this journey, it has continually been impressed upon me that being a woman in many parts of the world is still no easy task. The force of prejudice and the impact of poor education, difficult working conditions, low pay and limited access to medical care make life challenging for women around the world.
Hope remains, however.
Continue Reading »
The MS Expedition, our ship to Antarctica, docked in Ushuaia, Argentina before departure.
As a teacup and breakfast plate sailed by Wednesday morning, followed by a fellow passenger or two, it again occurred to me that no story of a destination is complete without recounting the process of getting there.
A journey to Antarctica from Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost point of South America requires crossing the Drake Passage, an infamous body of water that serves as a rite of passage for those who seek the seventh continent. The seas are notoriously some of the roughest in the world. To wit, one reader pointed out before we departed, “The Drake Passage can be brutal. I was bed-ridden for 4 days.”
Hard to believe, perhaps, until you experience it first-hand. Continue Reading »
To be hugged by a rodent of unusual size (ROUS)?
Despite all the itinerary changes we made during our Latin American journey, we never took Paraguay off the table. Maybe that’s because we knew virtually nothing about it. We hadn’t met anyone who’d been. That few others traveled there was an indication that we should. Continue Reading »
When we browse photos from a faraway place to which we’ve never been, we find that the entire visual panorama — the faces, the clothing, the landscape — looks so similar that it blurs any lines of distinction.
When you get up close, though, all the subtle differences have a way of evincing themselves more clearly. Continue Reading »
If you consider yourself a travel blogger, I have a question for you: Do your travels determine your blogging? Or does your blogging determine your travels?
In other words, does your blogging life – your online persona and community – actively play a role in how you choose your travel destinations and activities?
Some of you weighed in on our decision to go to Antarctica. We don’t want to leave you hanging any longer.
So what did we decide? What did the process look like and what did we learn from it? Continue Reading »
The other day we were chatting with some friends over dinner about travel and the topic of Antarctica came up. Perhaps it was the martini and red wine combination (it was a long day), but I got fired up as I considered the possibility.
Until now, Antarctica seemed like a far off dream, the stuff of speculation only. But could we – or rather, should we – try to make it a reality? Continue Reading »
The folds of Bolivia’s beauty – and its contradictions and struggles — defy a story line.
– Our thoughts in Bolivia, First Impressions
Bolivia may defy a story line, but it sure does beg a visit.
Continue Reading »
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