Chris Backe's Blog, page 93
October 30, 2015
The 10 creepiest places in Europe
During our epic trip to Europe earlier this year, we made it a point to find the unusual, the bizarre, and maybe even a little macabre. It’s Halloween season now, which means it’s time to share some of my favorites with you.
Museum of Movies and Miniatures – Lyon, France
Kicking things off here is one of the first places we found in Europe that had a...
October 29, 2015
A look at Korea’s newest slogan – and a story I’ve never publicly told before
On October 28th, Korea christened its newest English slogan – I.SEOUL.U – after a decade-plusof ‘Hi Seoul – Soul of Asia’ and several years of ‘Korea Sparkling’. (Korea’s current slogan, ‘Imagine Your Korea’, launched in July 2014, is little better.). In less than 48 hours, it’s been reviewed on the BBC, the Korea Times, the Huffington Post (Korean version), and Branding in Asia. A few selected quotes:
While the new slogan will likely get a fair share of international ridicule, people will a...
October 28, 2015
Destination: El Piedra, the big rock with 740 steps to climb
Also called la Piedra del Peñol(“the rock of Guatape”) or Peñon de Guatapé, la Piedra(“the Stone”) is one of the main attractions in Guatape, a daytrippable excursion from Medellin. Spend the night in Guatape if you like, but if you’ve left Medellin before lunch there’s a very good chance you can climb the rock, meander through the city, and even take a tour of the reservoir while still making it back to Medellin the same night.
But we’re getting...
October 26, 2015
Prague, anyone? 7 places we loved – and a new book
Prague was probably my second-favorite city (Berlin goes down as #1) as we traveled across Europe. With the PragueChoose a Way book being released today, I look back at some of my favorite places around the Czech capital.
Museum of Communism
So it’s clear, I had little influence in which places the author of the Prague Choose a Way book chose. We both chose this place as a worthy destination – plenty of oddities inside cover the history of Comm...
October 23, 2015
October book reviews: Getting Dutched Up and Conquering Mountains
A couple of fun books for you this month! Just a reminder to all you travel authors out there – get your book reviewedby heading to oneweirdglobe.com/review-book.
Once a month, I put together the books I’ve readinto a single review post. Alternatively, see plenty of previous book reviews over here, or see how I rate books.
A quick disclaimer: review copies were provided or downloaded for free, and links may be affiliate links. These reviews cover the version of the book Ireceived, not necessa...
October 21, 2015
26 Protips for traveling around Tunisia
Of all the countries we visited during our epic trip across Europe and Northern Africa, Tunisia is one of the few we both agreed would be worth a return trip. The liberal Muslim country is relatively easy to get around, and while not the cheapest destination ever is still plenty affordable.
In general Arabic is the first and most common language, butFrench runs a close second. English speakers would do well to look for the French as they go, as English is a distant third both in writing and...October 19, 2015
You’re about to hear a lot more about Bangkok from travel bloggers. Here’s why you probably won’t like it.
To most travel bloggers that have been around for awhile, the TBEX (Travel Blog Exchange) conference is pretty well-known. By design, it’s not marketed to travelers or the general public, yet it holds influence over hundreds of travel blogs out there. The Bangkok event concluded on October 17th, while a Fort Lauderdale event is scheduled to commence on October 28th. (A “TBEX @SEA” event will also be held on a cruise ship starting October 31st.)
So it’s clear from the beginning: I’ve been a tr...
October 16, 2015
Question from a reader: what does Medellin cost?
More than a couple people have asked this one, actually. The exactquestions have all a little different, but they all boil down to the same query:
What is the cost of living in Medellin?As you might expect, there isn’t a single answer to this question. Everyone – including locals – will manage on different amounts. Some may have no problem making it on roughly $1,000 USD a month, while others might struggle to keep it under $3,000 USD a month.
Quick note: prices in this post areshown in Col...
October 14, 2015
Random pictures, the three months in Medellin edition – or, where the hell ya been, Chris?
Well here it is mid-October, and posts here at One Weird Globe have been… erratic. Five posts in August (two of which were guest posts), seven posts in September… and this is the first one in October…
So, what’s going on?
In three words, Choose a Way. The interactive series of travel guides has been keeping me busy with managing, editing, publishing, marketing, andpromoting new books. While local experts arewriting the books and taking the photos, pretty much everything else is on me. We’ve...
September 30, 2015
Life as a Nomad: Sydney
Today’s ‘Life as a Nomad’ post comes to us from the same city as the latest Choose a Way book – Sydney. Two different people, however – a great chance to hear more about the iconic city down under. This post comes your way fromLaura Bronner over at Collecting Labels(also at An American Abroad), and her full bio is near the bottom of the post.
‘ Life as aNomad ‘ is an occasional series that focuses on the nomadic life and where nomads havelived it.Readthe whole ‘Life as a Nomad‘ series, includi...
