Chris Backe's Blog, page 108

Choose a Way – Bangkok

See Bangkok on your own terms!

Just like the old-school Choose Your Own Adventure® books, the choices are up to you. Would you rather go to the palace, the museum dedicated to Batman, or a relaxing park in the heart of downtown?

VERSION 1.1 (September 2014):Added more choices!Simplified links for Google MapsAdded hints for locations (because knowing which place is closer can help in the decision-making process)$6.99: Each day offers more than 800 possible paths to take.

Also inside are GPS coordi...

Life as a Nomad: Seoul, South Korea

‘Life as aNomad‘ is an occasional series that focuses on the nomadic life and where we’ve lived it.

So, tell me about Seoul.

The capital and the seat of power for centuries, Seoul and the metropolitan areas connected to it (officially called the Seoul Capital Area) hold half of the entire country’s population. It’s urban life on steroids, for want of a better term. It’s loud but clean, chaotic yet organized, superficial yet deep, and ultra-modern yet grapples with centuries of tradition.

Life in...

On “The Shameful Reality of Tourism in Korea”

Even a year and a half after leaving Korea, there’s a soft spot in my heart for the country. I wouldn’t say I miss it, but Istill see plenty of friends from Korea on Facebook. It’s with that background that this story came out as a bit shocking, to say the least.

The headline?“The Shameful Reality of Tourism in Korea”:

Full credit to Koreabang for translating and breaking the story to the English audience (if you haven’t read it, what are you waiting for?)

As you’d expect, I have some thoughts....

Ton Tann Market – Khon Kaen’s upscale outdoor market

As we finish up our time in Khon Kaen, we found ourselves at a destination we’ve often passed, yet never entered. Opened in June 2012, the Ton Tann Market aims to combine food, drink, art, and shopping in a fair place to take a date. I kind of wonder about the modern art seen above, though…

Part of the artsier side – for something that’s only a couple of years old there’s a surprising amount of wear.

While there’s an open-air area to eat and drink from plenty of restaurants, Brew’s selection is...

Destination: Khon Kaen horse racing

AND THEY’RE OFF!

Trying to follow horse racing in a foreign language islike trying to explain American football to a two-year-old. You might be able to do it given some time, but it starts off feeling like a whole new world. During a trip to the Seoul Racecourse Park in Korea, I felt like I could follow what was going on since I could read the Korean well enough. (Yes, I’m still struggling with Thai, I say sheepishly.) Khon Kaen’s horse racing is no less exciting, even without the first-world...

Random pictures, part 15

Mermaids are pretty sexy, if you ask me – I didn’t expect to see one on the outside of a Nakhon Ratchasima hotel…

As always, random pictures are those fun pictures that don’t fit in other posts. You might have some of them on my Facebook or Twitter page – go follow those if you aren’t already!

Just a few of the flavors you’ll find in Thailand . Which one do you like better – Hot Chili Sauce or Spicy Lobster?

What kills me is that they got ‘maintenance’ right.

Just like in Korea, the concept of go...

Book reviews: Vanishing Tales, vacation rentals, backpacking, AirBnB, and a guide to journalism

I think this’ll become a once-a-month sort of post. If you’ve recently written a guidebook, a book about traveling, travel blogging, or a book related to travel in some way, there’s a fair chance I’ll review it here. Send it to oneweirdglobe AT gmail DOT com.

Vanishing Tales from Ancient Trails – James Dorsey

More personal anecdotes than epic tales, James’ first-person narrative tells individual stories that make up a respectable whole. Some black-and-white photography is part of the book, thou...

3 days to settled – our method for getting started in a new area

Our ‘slow nomad’ style of traveling means moving every so often – specifically, every six months or so. Since we’d rather not spend lots of time getting set up in a new city, we’ve slowly honed our method for finding a place to live and getting a life started as quickly as possible. Whilewe still tweak it a little each time, this is the method we start tweaking from.

Before movingStep 1: know thyself.

No, this isn’t meant to sound abstract or psychological – but what you’re looking for in your...

Why (and How) I Write: A Blog Hop Post

May the chain continue! I was nominated by Bennett over athttp://thefurtheradventuresofbennett.com, and am happy to pass it on to three intrepid travel writers… seen at the bottom of this piece…

1) What am I working on/writing?

Since 2008, this has been my main travel blog. It’s changed names, over the years – it started as Chris in South Korea, with a brief stint as Chris in Thailand before thinking bigger to call it One Weird Globe.

Beyond the blog, I’ve written over a dozenbooksanditineraries...

Roaring Currents – six sites to see Admiral Yi Sun Shin

Even though I haven’t lived in Korea for almost a year and a half now, I still stay in close touch with what’s happening in the country. This movie’s runaway success has inspired me to put together some of the places to take in the story. Hope you enjoy!

“Roaring Currents” has quickly become one of Korea’s most successful movies. It shouldn’t come as much surprise, since the main protagonist is the country’s second most highly regarded historical figure,Admiral Yi Sun-shin. During Japan’s atte...