Back from Mexico and once again with enough time to consume the best travel gummies on the net this week. Sorry my schedule is all higgilty piggilty. Chew away.
Guillebeau Talking for TED
If you're a fan of Chris and his charisma, check out renowned non-conformist's TED talk from Carnegie Melon University. He discusses fear with some intriguing metaphors. What do you think about his message?
Most Celebrated Travel Books
Though I believe Frances Mayes should give it a rest with her lists of flower types and Italian herbs...and Ernesto Guevara could have cut his diaries a couple weeks short...and Elizabeth Gilbert got a wee too much publicity for her travel trifecta, I think this comprehensive list of travel books covers some great titles. Check out the entire list on World Hum and let me know which ones you would recommend to fellow narrative-hungry travel readers (cough, cough...me).
Most Celebrated Travel Books
Why We Call It Soccer
Thank you, Nat Geo Traveler, for finally solving the mystery. Why do we call football soccer (or, inversely, why do others call soccer football)? Alas, we have an answer:
After some digging, I'm happy to report the following: Apparently American's word for football is a shortened version of Assoccer, an abbreviation of "Association Football," the term given the game as it was played at elite British boys' schools in the 1860s. "Assoccer" became "soccer" and the name somewhat stuck as it served to distinguish it from rugby-rules football.
As players, coaches, sailors, and the enthusiastic exported the game around the world courtesy of the British Empire, local languages appropriated "football" as a loan word. For example, the Spanish fútbol doesn't literally combine the Spanish words for "foot" and "ball" but is an approximation of the British word for the ever-popular game. The game came to U.S. shores in the late 19th century and was called "football" in the U.S. until after World War II when the increasing popularity of the National Football League (NFL) prompted a change in name. Where English is a country's first language, "football" often refers to the most popular form of football in that country. Only three English-speaking FIFA countries refer to the game as "soccer": the U.S., Samoa, and Canada.
Now we know.
Tony's New Book and 100th Episode
I compulsively document Big T's new blog posts, this one being no exception to the rule. I love the flow of his travel writing - even his travel writing that isn't about travel per se. After releasing his second book, entitled Medium Raw, he reflects on the tiresome, yet pivotal, regimen of self-promotion across the country, as well as the ambiance during production of his 100th episode (in Paris).
I've heard Tony didn't necessarily meet the expectations of various travel bloggers with the new book, and I'm sort of glad. If he's a cook, a traveler, and a writer, why can't he write about cooking (and the unexpected celeb chef phenomenon) without focusing about travel? Why would people assume his book would be about his travel tales and woes when the blurb on the front reads:
A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook
Lay off, people. He's still a better writer than the vast majority of us.
Other Discoveries
Lion Burgers? Really, Arizona? Strike two.
This guy's just walkin.
The Michael Palin interview with World Hum
“Backpackers aren’t the bad guys. It really boils down to how we travel, and what the legacy is of that. We are guests in another culture, so the issue isn’t how do we stop tourism, the issue is how do we get it right.”
Problogger: 8 Habits of Highly Excellent Bloggers
Update on Nomadderwhere
Back Home Again
Judging purely by my intense slumbers upon returning to Indiana, you'd think I slept not at all throughout production in Mexico. I was entirely pooped, and to compound it, my mom dragged me to the Indy Night Ride, which started at 11pm and took us for 20 miles around downtown Indianapolis by night. My butt bones hate life today.
Since I was too busy to read up on the gems of the internet over the past three weeks, I also wasn't able to recap the work I churned out. Hence, here are the pieces I wrote (or photoblogs I compiled) over the course of production with ProjectExplorer.
Bear with me, people. I'm hoping to get back on schedule soon!