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Our Bucket List

Danny — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:48:49 +0000

To those who think we’ve done it all….we haven’t, not even close. Here is our stab at making a bucket list. I’m sure we’ve missed things but here it is for your enjoyment. Feel free to add your own suggestions or share some of yours with us.

70.3 Triathlon (a.k.a. A half iron-man triathlon. Or as Danny calls it…an Aluminum Man)
Be in a movie.
Cakes of Mexico's Semana Santa
Become a gourmet chef…or at least know how to cook things better
Bike across the USA.
Bike Italy…. A wine and food tour.
Camp Alaska.
Catch and prepare my own dinner.
Coach or Teach.
Compete in a multi-day adventure race.
Dance good salsa.
Discover Bhutan.
Hanging out over Bolivia's Death Road
Dive with whale sharks.
Drive in the Mongol Rally.
Experience Mongolia with a group of friends from home.
Get paid to take pictures.
Get really good at rock climbing.
Grand Canyon. Hike Rim to Rim, 1 Day. (We already did down and up, rim to rim sounds better)
Grow our own fruit trees and a vegetable garden.
Have a wood-shop…and use it.
Have kids.
Hike the Appalachian Trail.
Chocolate in Ecuador
Learn Arabic.
Learn how to make stain glass.
Learn to play harmonica and play on the street until I’ve earned enough money for dinner.
Live it up in the Balkans.
Make our own chocolate…and have it taste good.
Make our own wine; or maybe just work a vineyard.
Make stationary.
Open a travel bookstore with a Bariloche styled chocolate shop.
Own our own home.
Zebras!
Restore an old house…then move in.
Ride a zebra! (I’d settle for a wildebeest!)
Road trip Australia
Russia….St. Petersburg to Vladivostok (or backwards). The Trans-Siberian we almost took.
RV New Zealand
Sail the ocean….or at least a small part of it.
SCUBA the Red Sea from a live-aboard boat.
See a grizzly bear catch salmon in its mouth.
See a humpback whale breech.
A Little Whirling Dirvish in Sudan
See the Northern or Southern Lights…preferably while sitting in a hot spring in a glacier.
Ski
Skydive.
Spend more time in the Middle East – Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, etc.
Travel Indonesia.
Walk past a sidewalk cafe and take a free roll out of the basket on someone else’s table.
Win a race. Just one.
Win the lottery.
Work a potter’s wheel.
Write a Book
Travel the World (I guess we did this one already…)

Review: Jammin’ to a new language

Jillian — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:13:00 +0000

When we were approached about reviewing this smart phone application, I was excited. There are tons of applications out there to help travelers learn European languages, or even a few words of Cyrillic or eastern languages, but I find most of them lacking. The idea with Earworms Musical Brain Trainer is that listening to the language downloads will put words and phrases into your long-term memory, so you can actually recall it when you need it. The lessons are put to music or rhythms which improves the brain’s recall function. Given that epic stories from thousands of years ago, like the Odyssey, were put to music so a poet could remember the whole thing, I think the creators on to something here…

I love languages and to be completely honest I speak three of them, but as I learned on the road, that wasn’t enough. To try out this app, I wanted to put it through the ringer so I chose two languages that are considered difficult to learn: Russian and Arabic.

Getting Started: It was easy to download the different languages on my iTouch. You have to buy each language individually and most languages come in a few volumes- beginners should start with volume 1 with introduces a traveler to the key phrases for getting around: hotels, restaurants, etc… Along with the audio, you can read the phrases on your smartphone with the lesson.

How it Works:

For volume 1 downloads, each language come with 10 modules: 1) I would like, 2) To order, 3) Have you got?, 4) To the airport, 5) Numbers, days and time, 6) Where is there..?, 7) Directions, Where, when and what time?, 9) Problems, problems and 10) Do you speak English? Unlike other language applications, there isn’t a cutesy little travel story along with the lesson. It’s a simple repetition of the phrases, by a native speaker and an English speaker. They chat a bit, but it’s clear that the focus is on getting the rhythm in your head. The whole volume was a little over an hour.

The directions suggests you to listen to the whole download on the first day and then regularly listen to the modules over the next few weeks.

My Thoughts:

I listened to the Russian and Arabic modules on and off for a few weeks, usually while running. I actually enjoyed the melodious repetition. Certain phrases, even with just my casual use of the modules, have really stuck in my head. I would definitely recommend these modules to traveler’s looking for an easy, relatively fun way to learn the basics. Plus listening to a native speaker is going to give you a much better accent.

Will it get you speaking fluently? No, but it does give you enough of a basis to be able to formulate phrases on your own. Although it doesn’t teach you to conjugate verbs, it does give you some verbs that you can use to make your own sentences. I also really appreciated the written text which gives a literal translation of some phrases and some grammatical tips, especially for Arabic, this gave me a real sense of place and culture.

Pros: Listen and read at the same time. Hear a native speaker and an English speaker in quick succession. Upbeat and easy to listen.

Cons: The price is overall a little steep, so use the free demo downloads on their website to try it before you buy it. I think it’s worth it!

Price: $9.99 But check their website for coupons and offers!

Disclosure: We were provided free downloads in exchange for reviewing this product.

Guide: Hiking the “W” Trail – Torres Del Paine, Chile

Danny — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 14:40:44 +0000

Hiking the ‘W is a must do for all backpackers who manage to make it that far south. In our opinion, most do it in a way that is either more expensive or more work than necessary. Below is what we did, then some suggested changes to our path to maximize your enjoyment and minimize your time and expense. Doing this trek in 5 days, if you are a regular hiker, to me, is downright silly. If you want to do a longer hike, with less people, do the circuit.
Access: To Puerto Natales there are daily buses from Rio Gallegos and Peritto Moreno (El Calafate)in Argentina. From Puerto Natales there is a twice daily bus, making the several hour trip from town to the park, the first leaving in the morning around 8am and the second leaving around 2pm. Both buses pick hikers up for the return trip from the park to town.

Our time in Torres del Paine:

Day 1: We arrived on the morning Puerto Natales bus and made it to the start of the trail around the middle of the day. We set out immediately hiking all the way up the first leg of the ‘W’ to the Torres themselves and then back down again and almost to the second leg of the ‘W’. We slept that first night in Refugio Los Cuernos. Many would do this portion over two days but traveling with minimal gear we were able to make it with relative ease. Camping there and using the hut’s supplies rather than our own cost a couple of dollars extra but given that we didn’t need to rent equipment in town, this balanced out. It is important, even during low season to have a reservation if your planning to rent equipment. We made a reservation and they still didn’t have enough sleeping bags to go around! Plan ahead!

Day 2: We had planned to get up early and hike either the second or the third leg of the ‘W’ and get to the ferry to return to the bus to return to town in the early afternoon. As I’d started the trek with a cold we decided to just walk to the ferry at Lodge Paine Grande, but this was only because of my failing health, not lack of time. Had I started the trek healthy and we gotten up and began our walking at first light we would have been fine to do at least another leg of the W.

Other options:

One Day Hike: Not as hard as it seems. Take the afternoon bus from Puerto Natales and overnight at the first camp, staying comfortably in their lodge or huts. Begin walking before first light and you’ll have more than enough time to do the whole trek and make it to the Lodge Paine Grande camp at Laguna Azul before dark, spending a second night there and either taking the ferry the next day or walking to park headquarters to catch the bus back in the morning. This could be done in reverse as well. This is for seasoned hikers only who know what they’re doing. If there is a sudden change in weather you will likely need to alter your plans dramatically and you need to be prepared for that.

Two nights on the Trail: This is probably the best option for doing the entire trek with minimal time, expense, and discomfort. If you do your first day as we did above, then you can make an easy second day viewing the second leg of the ‘W’. Get up early the third day to visit the final leg or make a longer second day and do both legs there. Whichever way you divide the final two legs, plan to spend the second night at camp. Had I been healthy we would have gone with this option

Tips:
You can pay to stay in the huts or in the hut campsites. Equipment is available for rent within the park for camping, more expensive than in town but you don’t have to carry it, or just stay in the dormitory or the refugios. Full board can be purchased at each hut as well so if you don’t want to carry your food either, you don’t have to. When we were there everything for purchase was cheaper if paying with U$D rather than Chillean Pesos so ask in town before departing. All itineraries above can be done in reverse.

Be sure to take care of yourself while there, use the long days to pack in extra miles but don’t forget to go to sleep. Here’s a picture of the Torres del Paine National Park Topo hiking map: