Tune In

Calling in for a radio segment is always a gas. Calling into California’s biggest travel radio show, Around the World with Arthur & Barney is twice that. These two guys are just plain funny. It’s obvious that they enjoy the job and each other. Add in the sultry voice of TV personality Martha Bull (ABC’s KEYT) and no wonder the broadcast is also on thirty stations in Australia.

While calling in is great, it is even better when you get to hear the actual show. Even when you hear your blunders and mispronunciations! At first I found myself only listening to the segments I was on. Now I can sit for hours after the archives get updated and listen to several hours’ worth of great travel radio. Some of my favorite fellow correspondents are Richard Carroll, David Goldman, Melanie Reffes, Ren Zwiers and Richard Torin. All the correspondents really are top notch and their other outlets reflect that.

I leave for Budapest and Eiger Hungary on Thursday with Max from GoNOMAD.com He also frequently phones in reports to the show. He will write the story for Go NOMAD. I however will wait patiently after phoning in my report; in the meantime I will listen to some other great reports.

Clowning Around 

Pay to Play

There is some bad news from Butte. The Ho House is gone. In Butte, Montana the Dumas Brothel Museum has closed its doors. It was a brothel from 1890 until 1982. It was one of the first two-story structures in Butte. It’s a shame since the owner Rudy Gecek used to take tourists on tours. Ghosts are said to wander the cribs where love was available for sale.

There are places where you could see where the boys struck matches while they waited for their turn. Another cig please! It makes me think of HBO’s great show Deadwood. It is a time period that fascinates me. Cross the Ho House off Butte’s must see list.

For information on more of some of America’s strangest sites go to roadsideamerica.com

Don't Leave Home With It

There is one very sad 27-year-old Australian woman in Indonesia today. Scapelle Corby was sentenced to twenty years in prison. She was convicted of smuggling 9 pounds of pot into Bali. Corby was arrested in October and the pot was found in her surfboard bag. All of Australia was tuned in for the trail. According to AOL News. Russell Crowe was quoted as saying, “seeing pictures of her during the trial broke my heart”.

Her lawyers alleged that Australian baggage handlers stashed the doobie in her bag as part of a drug operation. Judge Wayan Suastrawan noted that customs officers testified that Corby looked “nervous” and “tried not to open the bag” when asked to. I hope they had more evidence than that to base conviction on. My heart also breaks for her.

Australian Prime Minister Howard said, “ guilty or innocent I feel for this young women”. “Respect that when we visit other countries we are subject to the laws and rules of those countries”. Very good travel advice.

Who is Who

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Just in case you’re heading to the jungles of Central America or the wilds of Australia soon or even Orlando, I got some croc and alligator info for you. Crocodiles are found worldwide, alligators only in the Americas. The crocs have longer narrower snouts and the sharp 4th tooth of the lower jaw is visible. Even when the mouth is closed. Alligators and caimans have a recess in their upper jaw where this tooth slots, out of sight.

In the last three months I’ve come across both, all on press trips. I must say I didn’t notice the difference. Maybe I just didn’t get close enough. Now you and I will know the difference. Check picture below for Gator.

Gator 

Jesus Beach Store 

Men's Health

Got some great health tips today from Esquire magazine. Some of them will go into my mental carry on luggage. The top one is the about the benefits of dark beer. They are filled with flavonoids, as is dark chocolate. They are the antioxidants compounds that decrease blood pressure and likeliness of blood clots. Time to eat fries in Belgium! Next is the fact that coffee can reduce your chances of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Thank god I filled my pack with Guatemalan beans last trip. Eating one ounce of nuts a day will lower your risk of cardiovascular disease. Next time I am in Buzious Brazil, I will stock up on Brazilian Nuts. I no longer have to worry about the Fat American moniker; we men are thinner than those in Finland, Germany and the Czech Republic. Better yet now that I’ve started kayaking here at home in the Hudson River Valley, I may never need Viagra. Men who burn at least 200 calories a day have a substantially lower risk of erectile dysfunction. Paddle on my brothers!

Hard Day at the Office 

The Good , Bad and Ugly

I think I need to get going again, home two weeks now and already finding myself going to Hotel Chatter. One of my favorite things about the site is the “Hotel Hell’ section. There readers vent their own stories of bad places to hang a hat. Before I head out on a press trip I usually see if I can get the skinny on hotels on the itin. I also like to compare my stays at a place with others. To balance the site there is also a, “Hotel Heaven” section. This is where readers can tell of great stays. In my experience both happen to be right on. The 1634 stories about hotels around the world should tide me over. Eight days till I head to Hungary. This trip should be different because most of the time will be outside of Budapest.

Kyoto Nights 

Color 

You are What you Eat

Just read a great piece on World Hum by the Chicken Man, Doug Mack. The point Mack makes is that when abroad he inevitably orders the chicken dish on the menu. No need to be macho or even adventuresome. He makes a very valid point. It makes me think of my recent trip to Guatemala. I had chicken ¾ of my dinners there. In my defense it was because there was little choice. The other main dish was grilled shrimp. I happen to love both. His piece also hit home because I do remember some of the strange dishes I have eaten. I have scarfed down deep-fried grasshoppers in Mexico, and live termites in Indonesia. The guinea pig in Peru was just plain bad. The huge Black Pepper Crab in Batam down right delicious. There is however nothing worse to me than the sediment just swallowed from 2003 Bordeaux.

Get Started

In the interest of keeping up I frequently check out travel writing books. The ones that tell you how too. Mostly they are mundane and repetitive. Lonely Planet just came out with one by Don George. It was a great read and I actually bought it. It is up to date and covers issues left out by others. Included is info on writing for the web. Obviously that sparked my interest. Also included are interviews with editors and writers. Don has a stellar resume as one time editor for Salon travel as well as the SF Examiner and Chronicle. He is currently the Global Editor for Lonely Planet. If you have any interest in travel writing get this book!

Good Eating 

Soft Shell Season

Shoft Shell Season 

Lost in Space

Just got off surfing some travel sites that I love, guess I am getting itchy again. Still have two weeks before heading to Hungary. Started at Jen Leo’s Written Road where I always get info on what is going on. Then I logged into Travelwriters and the BBS section. Love reading the rants and raves of other travel writers. It certainly helps in times of trouble to know I am not alone. Rolf Pott’s the vagabond king also is a frequent stop. When I am in a literary mood I head to Traveler’s Tales. World Hum also gets me thinking.

Started a great book about life in Iran today called, In the Rose Garden of the Martyrs by Christopher de Bellaigue. Fascinating read. With all that I still took out my new girlfriend today. The new red kayak now called Nell. In other words I kinda played hooky today.

Peace train 

Up the Creek

My trip to Guatemala must have had more of an effect than I though, I bought a kayak today. Trying to recapture my float on the Rio Dulce? It is a Victory Blast, small and hot red. Paddled for about two hours on the Rondout Creek this afternoon and it was just great, sounds of nature provided the music. The creek is just a mile from the house yet I noticed things never seen till today. Ulster County has many great waterways including the Hudson River. Some times it amazes me what is around my home that I never see. Kind off ridiculous that I fly off to explore places when a new experience is just a mile down the road. Guess not, if not for floating in Guatemala I would not have bought a kayak.

Spice it Up! 

Check is in the Mail

We have a winner but no losers! Friday night Lil and I headed up to my great buddy Cindy’s house. Max as usual cooked up a superb meal and then we dug in to go over the GoNOMAD entries. They were just great! It was such a thrill to see the interest. It was a tough choice. Congratulations David Atkinson. Tracing the path of Butch & Sundance through Bolivia should be quite the trip.

Been home for about a week and really enjoying it! Got some stories done and sent in. Taping radio show on May 24th then on June 2 going to Hungary. This time it is Max and I with four European Journalists. That should be very interesting.

Buzios Beach Girl 

School Girls 

Why Not US

I listened to an interesting segment on the Fox News Channel yesterday. It was about tourism in the US. Pretty much how it has grown only 12% in the last year while some countries have easily doubled that. Then I heard the comment that in many cities in the US you see busses with visit Turkey and such. Fact is the US really doesn’t really have a National Tourist Board. Shame on US!

My friend Ken Cooper, Director of Security at Bard College is coming for dinner tonight with a visiting teacher from Israel. I have very good memories of my trip to Israel a while ago. Talk about a tourism board that has gone through tough times! It is paying off though. There was a big spread in the NY Post today about Israel and its rising popularity. I for one would love to go back. The last two years Jordan has mounted a vigorous campaign for tourism. It is also paying off. I would also love to return there. Who says tourism isn’t worth it, not me!

Chichicastango 

Stripped Down

As a travel writer and editor I am always looking forward to going to new places. Often I will get responses from my friends like, “why there”? Or, “ isn’t it dangerous there”? Right now an editor I know that is on a very different assignment. One that only he has the balls to take. Max from GoNOMAD is at a nude resort near San Diego. Playing tennis , horseback riding and hiking in the nude. On our last conversation I asked Max what do you pack for a trip like that? He answer can be found on his blog readuponit found on GoNOMAD. His last e-mail was short because he was headed out to play poker at the Resort. At least I can assume it wasn’t strip poker. Heads up Max!

Rio Titan 

New Friends

New Friends 

Viva Guatemala

During my flight I though about the last eight days and all the experiences Guatemala has given me. It is a country full of culture and many different landscapes. There is no country with more Mayan inhabitants anywhere. To hear Garifuna spoken by the black Guatemalans of the Caribbean village of Livingston is music. To spend a night in a Mayan village funded by US Aid called Camp Mucbilha’ was a great eye opener. Traveling by small boat up the River Tatin to visit a school set up to teach children from 23 different Mayan communities that was set up by an American and has worked was great. It made me proud. I think Lily and I are going to be proud parents or at least godparents of a student soon.

All in all the two writers who backed out of the trip after getting the itinerary missed a tough trip that paid big. Would I do it again? You Bet! Got to put on the marimba CD now.

Good Ice Cream