Bill Murray's Blog, page 173
August 3, 2011
New Book Review on Amateur Traveler Blog
Thanks to Chris Christensen and Josh Allen for this review, just up last night on the fine blog Amateur Traveler.
-A blunt, dare I say: "Guide Book" into the reality of "Adventure Travel".
If you love stories about tropical beaches, amusement parks or milky white sandy beaches; then this isn't the book for you.
Bill Murray takes a collection of his fifteen most memorable trips and opens your eyes to the frequently good, bad, and of course, ugly parts. You'll find stories which make you...
August 2, 2011
Wednesday HDR: Seeking a Curious Record
This HDR photo is from our cabin, about 25 miles from the Appalachian Trail, close to its southern terminus. Seems kind of at cross purposes, but a North Carolina woman claims to have set a record for the fastest trip along the entire trail.
Click the photo to make it much bigger.
Book of Modest Adventures Makes Modest Gains, Author Proud
If you're a grizzled publishing veteran this has got to be ho-hum, and if you don't care, it must appear self-indulgent (please indulge me this once), but for a first-time author, following your sales (like, every five minutes) is a lot of fun.
After ranking down around a million-six last month, tonight my book Common Sense and Whiskey, Modest Adventures Far from Home, ranks 57-thousand something on Amazon's charts among some 8,000,000 books. Thank you!
Next stop? Oh, maybe 56,874.
I never...
July 29, 2011
Common Sense and Whiskey, the Book - Burma, Chapter Six
Here is Chapter Six of Common Sense and Whiskey, the book. We'll publish each chapter over the course of the summer (Track down previous chapters here). You can order the entire book direct from EarthPhotos Publishing, or at Amazon.com. Photos and additional commentary are available at A Common Sense and Whiskey Companion. And here's the Burma Gallery at EarthPhotos.com.
Aye Chan Zin, a 22 year old competitive bicycle racer, once raced from Rangoon to Mandalay and back. He fell and lost both...
Friday Photo Quiz #122: Where in the World?
The view from an observation tower high above this country's largest city, though not its political capital. Can you name the country? The city? The answer is below the fold.
And a good weekend to everybody, from Common Sense and Whiskey and EarthPhotos.com.
And the answer is ............................................................................. this is Sydney, Australia.
There are more photos in the Australia Gallery at EarthPhotos.com, and see almost a thousand photos of...
July 28, 2011
Humanitarian Aid to Somalia
How in the world do you explain this?
July 27, 2011
Maximizing Your International Travel Dollar
This post bears repeating, because it's a couple of years old so new readers of CS&W probably haven't seen it, it's still as true as ever, and because travel dollars are dearer than ever.
As we wrote in Don't Let "Experts" Tell You Where to Go This Summer,
There are 192 U.N. member states. Kosovo, Taiwan and Vatican City aren't U.N. members, so add them. Add South Sudan, to be born as the world's newest country on 9 July. That's 196 countries, and there are dozens and dozens of territories...
July 25, 2011
Who in the world knows anything about Abkhazia?
Quick, where is it?
No, it's not a mythical land like Phaic Tan or Molvania. Abkhazia is a silver of Georgia along the Black Sea, bordering Russia. I have a soft spot for these little forgotten slivers of land, although now that Kosovo has gotten some international recognition, I can't think of any others besides Trans-Dnestria, which lies between Romania and Moldova (Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhichevan don't count, since neither makes pretensions to independence). Here's that story you missed
July 22, 2011
Friday Photo Quiz #121: Where in the World?
This is the main waterway in the huge capital of a country which has recently elected its first female Prime Minister.
Can you name the city? The country? The answer is below.
And a good weekend to everybody, from Common Sense and Whiskey and EarthPhotos.com.
And the answer is ............................................................................. this is Bangkok, capital of Thailand, which has recently elected Yingluck Shinawatra as Prime Minister.
There are more photos in...
July 20, 2011
Guatemala Shoeshine - Wednesday HDR
This week's photo is from a May, 2010 visit to Guatemala. This shoe shine man sits on the main square in Antigua, Guatemala. Click the photo for a much bigger version.
We intended a peaceful weekend at Lake Atitlan, but a few hours after our arrival Volcan Pacaya erupted, closing the airport, then we were hit by tropical storm Agatha and had to flee first Lake Atitlan then Guatemala, where the airport remained closed, for a ride home from El Salvador.
