Matador Network's Blog, page 2260

How to piss off a French Canadian

Photo: Andrea Portilla

Shorten it to “French.”

Not only will this gravely irritate your French Canadian, but it will piss off actual French people, the ones from France. Are Brazilians Portuguese? Are Ecuadorians Spanish? No, so, stop it!

Say, “It’s not real French.”

As a French person living in English-speaking Canada, I have taken part in the following conversation many times:

“Are you from Québec?”

“No, I am from France.”

“You speak real French then. You’re the real deal, not like those Québecois.”

I don’t even know how French Canadians tolerate that crap all the time. English speakers seem to believe that only people from France speak proper French, the “real French.” Well, I have some news for you: The French language that French Canadians speak IS REAL FRENCH, just like the language Americans speak IS REAL ENGLISH! There are aspects of their language that are different from European French because it has been evolving separately for the past few centuries; still, it is French, real French.

Talk shit about the food.

“The best poutine I ever had was in Vancouver.”

You’re looking for serious trouble here. Nowhere outside of Quebec can one find good cheese curds (the ones that make a squeaky noise when you chew them) and St. Hubert Poutine mix. Nowhere, I said. What other elements of French Canadian culture are you trying to destroy? Are you also going to tell me the best maple syrup you ever had was in Maine? Just get out of my sight!

Mock the accent.

I must admit I love the thick French Canadian accent, and not unlike the British accent for non-British people, one seems to pick it up without paying attention, making a fool of oneself (yes, I’ve been there). Those who mock the lovely French Canadian accent still haven’t realized that, from a French Canadian point of view, they may sound like they have a pretty nasty speech impediment too. Accents are nothing but a matter of perspective.

Mention high taxes.

The two official languages of Canada seem to be responsible for everything finance-related in the country. Not only do these damned French speakers need to have every single government document translated, but border agents, Air Canada flight attendants, and Service Canada employees need to be trained to speak English AND French. What a waste of taxpayers’ money!

Who cares about the cultural advantages of having two official languages? If only these fake separatists learnt English and let the country save some money, that would be great.

Make fun of Céline Dion.

Don’t you dare make fun of Céline Dion! She has a wonderful voice and is a humble French Canadian woman. Who’s next, Roch Voisine? Arcade Fire? You should be ashamed of yourself!

Trash talk the socialist spirit.

When a tuition-fee hike was announced in Quebec in 2012, the people of the province didn’t just accept their fate, they fought relentlessly. The students protested for weeks on end. In the rest of Canada, people were calling these politically involved youths “privileged brats,” when really, they were just jealous. Nobody should accept such financially crippling initiatives, and if you do, you can only blame yourself for it.

Explain how much you love winter in Quebec.

You obviously haven’t lived here for very long. The below-zero weather gets old after two years; the heavy boots are kind of fun at first, but after six months of wearing them, you think they’d make good kindling; and the 30cm of snow we get in mid-April isn’t as charming as one may think. Winter wonderland, my eye! It’s more like godawfulweatherland!

Use Google Translate.

If you’re a business owner selling your merchandise in Canada, you have to have your products’ labels translated in both official languages; however, some people never bother to translate their products’ packages…simply because they can’t be bothered. Others are even more ill-intentioned and try to enrage all French Canadians (and most translators living in this country) by coming up with a poor and senseless Google translation. If your travel mug read like this, you’d be pissed off (and slightly amused) too:

“Travel armed attack” Photo: TopFrancais.com

Call the youth stinky hippies.

I have never met such adventurous young people as the French Canadians. These guys know how to travel and enjoy themselves. In British Columbia, there are countless young French Canadians doing odd jobs (often fruit picking, a well-known “hippy” activity) that gives them some pretty awesome laid-back exploration time in the West. Some may smell, but you would too if you’d hitchhiked from Montreal all the way to Vancouver and spent the past two months sleeping in a tent in the wilderness.

Let’s just be nice and let these kids have some fun.

The post How to piss off a French Canadian appeared first on Matador Network.

34 insanely detailed maps

With every passing day, my Facebook feed becomes increasingly saturated with all kinds of maps, illustrating such things as beer- or coffee-drinking trends, the number of Waffle Houses per capita, and major hipster hotspots around the globe. But, frankly, the maps being dumped on me via social media are getting old. Either I’ve seen them too many times, or they’re all just slight variations on the exact same theme. I crave more information.

From handmade and hand-drawn maps, to interactive online maps, to plots of some of the most obscure data that took decades to collect, here are 33 insanely detailed maps of the world and its constituent parts.

1. Interactive map of the world’s most popular biking routes

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Holy hell is this insanely detailed. It goes all the way to street level. Culled from 77,688,848 rides, 19,660,163 runs, and apparently 220 billion total data points, this is the most thorough summary of everywhere everyone bikes on the globe.

2. Major running routes in well-known cities

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From Nathan Yau, who mapped these: “If there’s one quick (and expected) takeaway, it’s that people like to run by the water and in parks, probably to get away from cars and the scenery. In the smaller inland cities, there seem to be a few high-traffic roads with less running elsewhere.”

3. Magnetic anomalies

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Yes, this map looks a bit like a clown threw up on the notebook you were doing acid doodles in, and yes, what it actually represents is equally trippy. This map, with the continents and fault lines, summarizes all the magnetic anomaly data taken over the past five decades. What does it mean? I don’t know…but look at the colors.

4. Most photographed places

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One thing’s for damn sure — Europe loves to be photographed.

5. Cut-paper city

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Karen O’Leary combines art and cartography to reimagine modern maps of city streets as intricate cutouts. Her works are also available for sale at her Etsy store.

6. London

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Hand drawn by Stephen Walker for his 2012 exhibition “London Subterranean,” this map includes such details as “squirrel feeders” and “men in silly hats.”

7. Victoria Peak

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This incredibly detailed 3D topographic map of Victoria Peak was carved into a roll of duct tape by Takahiro Iwasaki. He also makes scale models of phone lines and Ferris wheels out of string and is a serious contender for the “most patient person on the planet” award.

8. Wind

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Derived from real-time wind data from the National Digital Forecast Database, these manifestations of wind patterns across the US are as fascinating as they are beautiful.

9. Geotagged tweets

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These maps, recording every geotagged tweet since 2009, indicate where people love them some social media.

10. Baseball fandom in the US

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Demonstrating the distribution of fandom for “America’s favorite pastime,” this interactive map shows quite clearly that a team’s fans are spread more randomly than just across state lines.

11. Portland

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Color coded by age, this interactive map shows Portland and the surrounding areas but illustrates the growth, development, and architectural history of the region.

12. London

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This map features the stomping grounds of a myriad of famous, infamous, and lesser-known characters throughout the realm of fiction, in the very real London.

13. The world at night

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Created from the overlaying of many images of cities captured at night, these captivating maps illustrate the fires of civilization after dark. Put your guesses for which cities / regions are being depicted in the comments!

14. Buddhism world map

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Hand drawn in 1710, this map, titled “Nansenbushã bankoku shoka no zu” (the world map of Buddhism) originated in Kyoto. Possibly my favorite map on this list, it’s not only a snapshot of the world according to the Japanese in the 1700s, it’s a serious artifact and work of art.

15. World flight patterns

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An update of the standard view map circulating the blogosphere, this reimagining also by Michael Markieta allows us to look at the same data from a different, equally global perspective in the third dimension.

16. Global seafloor topography

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71% of our planet is underwater, much of which goes too deep to be visible from the surface. This map blacks out the areas of land on the globe and shows what the seafloor would look like sans-ocean.

17. Frightening income map of the US

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Broken up by county, this interactive map demonstrates how much you’d need to make an hour for an average 40-hour workweek, 52 weeks a year, to afford a decent one-bedroom apartment in the area. On the one hand, I’m not making $14.88 in my beloved Multnomah County in Oregon, but I still live pretty comfortably. On the other hand, there go my dreams of southern California beaches.

18. Airline flights

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This animated map illustrates every flight that occurs in a 24-hour period and is both incredibly mesmerizing and informative. While it doesn’t surprise me as much that the major hotspots include Europe and the US, living in the US, it does surprise me that the entire US sees virtually the same amount of traffic during peak hours.

19. World tweets

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Okay, full disclosure, this map has so much detail it crashes my computer every time I open it, so I haven’t been able to scrutinize it as much as I’d like. This brightly colored map of the world shows all the tweets posted between October 23 and November 30, 2012. A critical distinction between this and the previously mentioned tweet map: This one is colored by the language the tweets were made in.

20. Wonky-looking world

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While at first glance this map resembles those weirdly proportioned maps with the size of the countries adjusted for population or wealth distribution, this one represents the world with the country size adjusted based on the number of indigenous languages that originated there. With approximately 3,000 native languages, Africa is the centerpiece of this map, and then there’s everyone else.

21. French kissing

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I’ve never kissed friends upon greeting them (I’m barely a hugger), so when I saw that some regions of France kiss up to five times as a greeting, I could think of only one thing: I wonder how quickly a cold spreads in Corsica.

22. Language map of Africa

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The perfect complement to the world indigenous language map, this map shows the breakdown of indigenous languages in Africa. Grouped by color (as defined by the key in the lower left of the map), dialects or sub-languages are represented by a different shade.

23. Scandinavia

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Kicking it old school once again, this hand-drawn gem is the earliest detailed map of Scandinavia. Known as the Carta Marina, this 16th-century map is attributed to cartographer Olaus Magnus.

24. Hand-drawn map of Italy

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Yes, there’s an awful lot of information in this map. So much that it looks like a mess by modern cartography standards. But, considering it’s circa 1891 and completely hand drawn for Stieler’s Hand-Atlas, it deserves to be on this list (perhaps more than most).

25. World population and wealth distribution

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Yet another way to visualize the wealth and population disparity around the world, each dot represents a population — the brighter the dot, the more people. Admittedly a little US-centric (given that the cutoffs for the income brackets are in USD), the map uses different colored dots to represent the income bracket that population falls into.

26. Ethnicity division in Illinois

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It’s sometimes refreshing to zoom in from the macro scale of the globe and peek at the results of a single city, in this case, Chicago and the surrounding areas in Illinois. Culling data from 2000, this map represents population distribution (25 people per dot) based on location and colored by their self-identified race/ethnicity. While it may be unsurprising to some, the polarization of sub-city-regions by ethnic group is something I find truly unbelievable. I couldn’t find the “Japanese neighborhood” in Portland if I wanted to (which is less a statement about Portland and more about my inability to find things).

27. Indian homes with toilets

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I never thought I could get culture shock without having to even visit a place, but the data on this map totally rocked my world. Based on data from not that long ago, it demonstrates that a massive portion of India lives without a household toilet.

28. Wait for it

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At first glance, this sure looks like that map of air travel routes. Don’t be fooled; the truth is way cooler. Ranging from 2005–2009, this map shows all the scientific collaborations around the globe. This one image explains the exponential advances in science we witnessed over those four years, through the collaborations pictured.

29. Tropical cyclone paths

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Though it may look like a bit of an MS Paint accident, this map illustrates the path of every tropical cyclone, storm, and hurricane around the world, from 1842-2013. That’s a hefty chunk of storm history.

30. China

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Another fascinating regional map of languages, this one made by Steve Huffman chronicles the many languages and language families of China. Color signifies a language group or family and shade signifies a difference in sub-language or dialect. The key makes it clear just how many influences have gone into the very diverse languages that until recently I only knew as “Chinese.”

31. Human impact on the biosphere

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This map is pretty straightforward, no complex colors and subdivisions between subdivisions. The red on the map is every place where humankind’s had a significant impact on the biosphere and ecology of the region. Apparently, only the deserts and tundras are safe.

32. Major fires in the US

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Displaying every major fire in the US since 2001, the map exhibits the data in units of nuclear power-plant output. I did a double take. Each nuclear power plant has a summertime output of 1,000 megawatts, and the brightest dots on the map represent three power plants’ worth of output. What the hell happened in Southern California?!

33. Car-crash map of the UK

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This map shows the location of all 2.4 million road crashes in the UK from 1999–2010. Each accident is represented as a point of light. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the major cities are the epicenters of these car accidents. What was surprising was the sheer concentration of the accidents in the southern UK. I get it, the population is concentrated largely in the south, but it honestly looks like half the country just doesn’t exist.

34. 3D map of Waffle Houses in the US

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Y’know, just in case you were curious.

The post 34 insanely detailed maps of the world appeared first on Matador Network.

10 things you'll miss about Japan

Photo: Azlan DuPree

1. How freakin’ cool it is

You know how you get this idea of how a place is going to be based on books? (By books I mean movies.) Then you leave the airport and drive past apartment buildings and shopping centers that are very much like the apartment buildings and shopping centers of your own country, just in a different language. Japan’s not like that. Japan’s just as cool as it is in the movies. Any minute you might expect a gaggle of geishas to shuffle past or Godzilla to rampage Roppongi’s vibrant neon nightlife.

2. How freakin’ clean it is

The streets smell of pancakes and honey, everyone rides a pedal bike, and the bus drivers don dainty white gloves. Like, seriously white. Like, how-is-that-even-possible white. Unless you live in a Clorox ad, or Japan, so it would seem.

Japan is so clean I’d lick the pavement. I say this partly because I’m trying to illustrate just how clean it is, but also because I’m secretly hoping one day someone will offer me money to actually lick it. Not that I make a habit out of licking things for money, but when you see an opportunity…

3. Not getting robbed

Not getting robbed is great. I highly recommend it. You won’t be robbed in Japan1. The Japanese code of honor is deeply ingrained and beautiful.

1On the off chance you do get robbed in Japan, I’m going to feel really bad. If it happens, send me a personal message. I won’t reimburse you for your stolen goods or anything, but I’ve heard the act of writing out your grievances can be quite cathartic. You’re welcome.

4. Weird flavored Kit Kats

I don’t actually eat Kit Kats. Mostly because I don’t like them, but also because my sister made me promise to boycott the Nestle corporation because they were killing babies somewhere in the world2. Now I get to not eat Kit Kats and feel smug and superior about it. Still, I’m always intrigued by the curious spin of flavors the Japanese manage to invent: red bean sandwich, wasabi, matcha green tea, purple sweet potato, edamame soybean, and shinshu apple, just to name a few.

2My sister made me add this link.

5. Wrapped books

Sales clerks hand wrap your newly purchased books in delicate paper with care and precision. It’s like watching art happen. Being that it’s the country that brought us origami, it’s not all that surprising. It makes me wish I could wrap these very words and bestow them to you. Imagine it so. But don’t imagine me folding you a paper snow crane. I always fuck those up.

6. The Ramen Museum

My only regret was that I didn’t purchase the year-long pass. My less-ramen-enthused pals talked me out of it. They didn’t understand the magic. It’s the Disneyland of the ramen world. Except without the rides and long lines and loads of people, because as it turns out not a lot of people visit the Ramen Museum.

The best part is the area is designed to resemble ye olde Japan circa 1958, the year ramen was invented (so says the website). In ye olde Japan, you can sample ramen from around the country. Each region has its own unique take on the iconic noodle dish. This is not that crunchy crap in a bag you ate in college. This stuff is love. Eat your feelings. Here, the website has directions.

7. The most amazing piece of meat you’ll ever put in your mouth

For me it was a succulent melt-in-your-mouth bite of beef yakitori I had whilst strolling along a river in Fukuoka. I’ve heard the cows in Japan are grass fed and massaged daily by virgin milkmaids. That might have something to do with it, but really I think it’s Japan’s simplicity with food that makes the experience so exquisite.

Take sushi. Here in America, we sauce it up and give it a powerful name like “dynamite roll!” In Japan, they let the food speak — or taste, I should say — for itself. They don’t make a pompous show of it. Just delicately sliced raw fish placed elegantly on a plate with a little wasabi and ginger. So regal. So clean. So perfect in its purity as you pop that piece of fleshy fish in your mouth and let it swim.

8. Fun toilets

Have you ever noticed your ass cheeks are usually cold? Reach into your pants and feel them. No one’s watching. I’m not sure why this is, and it doesn’t seem to have a negative impact on one’s life, but it does make the heated toilet seats of Japan really fun.

Not only is your seat toasty, it’s also super high tech. It’s pretty much like a space shuttle where you can launch a few rockets to the sound of birds singing or a pretend toilet constantly flushing. This is so that, while everyone knows exactly what you’re doing in there, you can pretend you’re actually playing with birds or wasting water. After you’ve finished, go ahead and test out the buttons. You won’t be able to read them, but you can’t go wrong with the smiley face one. It’s pretty much an enema. Sorry to spoil the surprise.

9. Trains

Riding the Tokyo trains during rush hour, I always wonder if the man my breasts are firmly pressed against has a girlfriend. Or what about the guy sandwiching me from behind? Who are these people? Do they think it’s weird that I can feel their body parts with my body parts? Yet we all pretend like it’s no biggie and go about listening to our podcasts.

And just when you think there’s no space left for your body to go, the doors open and more passengers are herded on with a stick. The guy with my breasts all over him falls asleep wedged tightly upright. Are my breasts that uninteresting? The whole situation is awkward. This isn’t something to be missed. I’m sorry for wasting your time with this one3.

3In defense of the trains, they’re ridiculously punctual. And the Shinkansen is a disorienting good time. They don’t call it a bullet train for nothing.

10. The Snow Monkeys of Nagano

Monkeys soaking in hot springs!

I don’t know what else to say. If I didn’t have you at “monkeys soaking in hot springs!” we’re just not the same kind of people. Frankly, I’m surprised you’ve read this far.

The post 10 things you’ll miss when you leave Japan appeared first on Matador Network.

Future of outdoor advertising [vid]

Warning: Some of this footage might give you vertigo.

Central London’s streets are vividly alive at the dullest of times, but these visual projections have taken trippy steps to ramp things up. Using old buildings as canvases for art and ad campaigns is providing a limitless playing field in which people can get insanely creative. Say bye-bye to bland neon billboards — this is the future.

The post This is the future of outdoor advertising…and it’s trippy as hell appeared first on Matador Network.

15 signs you're from São Paulo

Photo: Gustavo Gomes

Você sabia que pode ler (e comentar!) esse post em português? Clique aqui.
1. You embrace traffic as a fact of life.

Traffic troubles, whether currently happening or a spectacular event from last week, are ever a topic of conversation. In a city of 11 million with insufficient public transportation, people stress about getting from A to B all the time. Everyone has a story about it and an alternative route to share.

Waze is very popular, but there’s also a radio station dedicated to traffic news, 24 hours a day, every day. Even the absence of traffic is a subject for conversation: “Hey, guess what, I arrived 15 minutes early because there was no traffic on Bandeirantes today!”

2. You love pizza.

I know it’s a global favorite, but we mastered it. Our pizza can be artistically thin or generously thick, veggie or meaty, a traditional marguerita or an unconventional affair topped with cheese, sliced tomato, and fresh arugula. This is a city where citizens consume more than a million pizzas every day (according to the Association of United Pizzerias. Pizza in São Paulo = excellent.

3. You know the difference between Paulistanos, Paulistas, and São-Paulinos.

It’s easy: Those born in São Paulo city are Paulistanos, and those born in São Paulo state are Paulistas. As for São-Paulinos, they’re São Paulo soccer club supporters. But just to avoid any confusion, the most popular team in São Paulo (city and state) is Corinthians.

4. You’re a Corinthiano.

No? Well, I bet your dentist, bus driver, boss, teacher, cook, and coworker cheer for Corinthians. Also, this guy is a celebre Corinthiano.

5. Your first meal of the day consists of pão francês.

That’s white bread with a crispy crust, along with butter, a cup of milk, and coffee. Okay, maybe a glass of fresh orange juice and a thin piece of white cheese. But that’s it. We all know those super-complete, continental-style breakfasts everyone sees in novelas are fictional.

6. You love Ibirapuera Park.

Ignore the weekend crowds and foul-smelling lake. The Ibirapuera is green, fresh, beautiful, and easy to get to. It holds museums, a cool skating area, a Japanese garden, several hidden picnic spots, and metal sculptures kids love to climb. It’s São Paulo’s Central Park, mêo!

7. You always know the right answer when a cab driver asks which way to go.

And it never, ever involves Rebouças Avenue.

8. You leave in the morning ready to endure a full range of weather.

São Paulo can be cold in the morning, super hot at lunch time, stormy in the evening, and freezing by night. That’s why we’re always carrying an extra layer of clothing and a foldable umbrella.

9. You don’t go outside during heavy rain.

As a Paulistano, you’re aware of how dangerous the city can be during a thunderstorm. It normally happens between December and February in the late evenings and, given the damage this Brazilian answer to monsoons can cause, people tend to stay where they are until it stops.

Why? Well, it’s a lot of water, of course. But there’s garbage. São Paulo may be not as dirty as Delhi, but it’s no Kopenhagen. People throw soda cans and water bottles from car/bus windows and leave trash bags (and tires, and sofas, and who knows what else) on the streets. When it rains, all the trash blocks the drainage and scenes like this happen.

10. You’re familiar with the “motoboy” concept.

If you work from home or at an office, chances are at some point you used the services of these two-wheeled professionals. They’re the wild dogs that cut through traffic every day, hated by car/bus drivers but crucial to the city’s daily life. It’s one of the hardest jobs in town.

11. You go to the shopping mall for everything.

Because wandering around shops and avoiding direct sunlight is a beloved sport of our residents, São Paulo has 51 shopping malls distributed throughout the five zones (East, West, Central, North, and South), from popular Aricanduva to ultra-fancy Cidade Jardim.

12. Your acquaintances comprise many different ethnicities.

Japanese, Chinese, or Korean descendants, someone with freckles and curly hair, árabes (in Brasil this can mean Turkish, Armenian, or Syrian), families with Italian and Spanish surnames, Afro-descendants, and people from North, Northwest, South, and Central Brazil. There are also Espíritas, Protestants, and Catholics as well as Buddhists, Jews, and Umbanda/Candomblé practitioners.

If not, sorry to say it, but you’re doing something wrong. Brazil is a mixed country, and São Paulo is a tremendous blender. Embrace it.

13. You know a nostalgic old timer who remembers when it was not only possible but normal to swim in Rio Tietê.

Maybe your grandparents, if they were born here. You listen with skepticism until someone shows a picture. It was pristine. People look happy. So much can change in less than a century, right? Sad, but true.

14. You love your city, but you’re willing to stay inside a car/bus for ten hours trying to get away from it.

The “saída de feriado” is a registered phenomenon that happens when everyone tries to leave the city at the same time before holidays. The longer the holiday, the worse the traffic jams. Depending on timing, weather, and traffic, it can take half a day to endure a trip that’s usually made in two and a half hours.

You ask me, these people are insane, but I’m always glad to see them go. It’s the best time to experience all the cultural options São Paulo has to offer without long lines or traffic jams.

15. You’re worried about World Cup…kind of.

Let me go ahead and say it: FIFA won, as we always knew it would. People are buying TVs, storing canned beer, collecting the World Cup stickers album, and discussing the choices Felipe Scolari made for Seleção. World Cup is upon us, and it’s time to ride along with the craziness and pray no one gets hurt.

Also, there’s nothing like the stillness of the metropolis when Seleção is playing. Except, of course, the party at Avenida Paulista after a victorious match.

The post 15 signs you were born and raised in São Paulo appeared first on Matador Network.

Lessons Costa Rica can teach us

BEING IN MY EARLY 20s, I’m part of a generation desperately dependent on technology and the internet. No one uses paper maps anymore, and those in my age bracket seem to forget the joys of being hopelessly lost.

Last month, as one of the winners of the Storytellers: Costa Rica contest, I got the opportunity to ‘lose’ myself on a Costa Rica Unplugged trip with Contiki. The greatest lesson I took away from my journey is that all life on this Earth is interconnected — damage visited on the smallest ecosystem creates a ripple effect and touches everything around it, humans included. I have a renewed appreciation for my environment wherever I go, and I think it’s important to remember to look up from our smartphones from time to time and genuinely appreciate the beauty we’re so privileged to have surrounding us.

The following photos are my way of illustrating Costa Rica’s preserved splendor, and the hope is they inspire others to want to see it with their own eyes. Let’s rethink what’s actually valuable in our lives, and what can be done to protect our planet.

This post is proudly produced in partnership with Contiki, world leaders in youth travel. In early April, the author participated in a Contiki Cares conservation trip through Costa Rica.

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After we landed in Costa Rica, we spent our first day and night in the capital of San Jose. Matador Ambassador Alex Strohl and myself were fortunate enough to meet with a local photographer named Miguel Vargas, who took us on an adventure about an hour outside of San Jose to catch some photos of the sunset.





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We ended up near the base of a volcano, surrounded by vast farmland and rapidly changing cloud coverage. We stayed past the sunset and were able to play around with Miguel’s truck lights and dust to capture some cool shots.





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Jamie appreciating a 250-year-old tree at Restaurante El Ceibo in Guapiles, on our way to Tortuguero. We had our first sloth encounter here, and also saw one of the seven poisonous frogs of Costa Rica. It really put into perspective the types of creatures that must exist in a forest full of trees such as these.




See more: Telling the story of conservation in Costa Rica




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A second stop on our way to Tortuguero was this banana plantation. At home in British Columbia, I spend lots of my time in the forest, so I found the vibrancy of the greens in the plantation to be peaceful and comforting.





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The Sea Turtle Conservancy is located within Tortuguero National Park, at the top of Costa Rica's Caribbean coast.





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The pathway leading from the Sea Turtle Conservancy education buildings to the beach, where the researchers, every night, work from midnight to dawn to protect one of the most majestic animals of the ocean. Not only is the facility absolutely amazing and informative, but the staff are extremely well educated and inspire each individual that comes to meet them. I think I can speak for most of the members on my trip when I say that being privileged to experience leatherback turtles nesting, and working alongside the researchers under the most pristine blanket of stars, was the type of experience I’ll hold close to my heart for the rest of my life.





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Ben exploring some of the undeveloped areas of Tortuguero.





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One of the spiders we encountered on our exploration, a golden silk orb weaver.





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Village life in Tortuguero was wonderfully alive and spirited, where the phrase pura vida was tossed around frequently. Here, a young girl sits in front of her family’s shop, curiously staring at all of us tourists taking photos of her. Her father and brother were sanding down a coconut shell to the left of her, while her mother had a table set up across from her to make jewelry out of the shell pieces.




See more: 26 inspiring moments from a conservation trip through Costa Rica




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The main mode of transportation in the Tortuguero area is by boat, and thus we spent a good amount of time waiting by the water. No complaints with such a sunset.





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Catching light flares at Tirimbina Biological Reserve during our chocolate tour, where we learned the traditional way in which Costa Ricans produce chocolate from cacao.





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Ben crossing a very rickety bridge at the Reserva Biologica La Tirimbina.





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Swimming at La Fortuna in the Arenal area. This was quite easily the best day of the entire trip. It’s places like La Fortuna I feel need to be preserved, because the rush and magnificence of such creations of nature can’t be replaced by something manmade or material. It is nature in its finest form, and moments like these are where we feel most alive and most in touch with ourselves. Without gifts of nature such as these, we will completely lose sight of what is actually important and valuable in our lives.





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The view of the Arenal Volcano from Hotel Arenal Paraiso. A glimpse of paradise surrounded by countless hot springs to relax after an extreme day of adventures.





15


In the town of La Fortuna, we had the pleasure of visiting Sonafluca School to be blessed by the company of some children with beautiful smiles, spirits, and souls. They performed a wonderful dance for us and invited us to dance with them. When asked what they preferred to do in their free time, all answered humbly with those simple things in life that make us all happy, mainly playing with the neighborhood kids or spending time in nature. These kids have the types of relationships with each other that I long for, for all children, where simple human interactions aren’t blocked by social media platforms and iPad screens.





Intermission





Telling the story of conservation: Costa Rica





26 inspiring moments from a conservation trip through Costa Rica





Surfing the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica [pics]


















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One evening, we enjoyed a dinner where we made our own tortillas, and this was our backyard sunset view at La Casona Rio Fortuna, one of the most incredible properties I have ever visited. The owners focus on traditional living methods and sugar plantation processes, complete with homemade moonshine.





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One of the staff at La Casona Rio Fortuna.





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Literally walking over treetops, post-ziplining in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.





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A male purple-throated mountain gem (left) and a male violet sabrewing (right) were some of the most vibrant among the hundreds of hummingbirds flocking the Hummingbird Garden in Selvatura Adventure Park, where we did our ziplining. The garden included a few dozen birdfeeders, and being so close to so many hummingbirds was truly surreal.





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Alex taking a photo in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve at the Monteverde Continental Divide. This moment and experience was the one that touched me the most and hit closest to home. It seemed that the cloud forest affected each of us on our trip differently, and we each took something home in terms of what it means to protect the environment. The cloud forest is a miraculous place—I feel everyone should get slapped in the face by clouds at least once in their lifetime. Similar to those working at the Sea Turtle Conservancy, there is a very dedicated and hardworking group of people laboring to protect what’s left of the cloud forest. At the current rate of decline, the approximation is that the Cloud Forest Reserve will no longer be at its present state of grandeur in five years’ time. This is where it really struck me how the people of Costa Rica are so devoted to protecting the most pristine areas of their country that they’ve sacrificed the perks of consumerism in order to spend more on conservation and eco-protection. It’s truly inspiring.





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Taking a break from the rainforest scene and enjoying some free-diving in Manuel Antonio Quepos on our last day of adventures in Costa Rica. The day ended with some playful dolphins and an epic sunset.





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Sarah reflecting on the roof of the catamaran on our last evening together as a group.





23


A local in Tortuguero fashions a hat made out of a coconut husk. Pura vida is a phrase unique to Costa Rica, which means any number of things from “pure life” or “life is great,” to “it’s going great,” or “this is living.” The phrase was always spoken with a warm smile, which projected positive vibes to anyone in earshot. It seemed to be an all-encompassing idea here, not just a phrase, where the locals used it as a foundation for the type of lifestyle they chose to lead. It inspires me and motivates me daily, to always see the good in every situation and really remember to count my daily privileges, while staying stoked on this most amazing of lives. Pura vida!

The post Lessons Costa Rica can teach us appeared first on Matador Network.

12 best motorcycle roads in America

1. Tail of the Dragon (Tennessee)

An 11-mile stretch of US Route 129, the Dragon (also known as Deal’s Gap) is widely considered to be one of the best motorcycle roads in America. Resembling a dragon’s tail, Deal’s Gap is said to contain over 300 curves, the sharpest of which has been given nicknames such as Gravity Cavity and Copperhead Corner. The challenging two-lane blacktop-highway stretch brings riders through Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Originally 55mph, the speed limit was reduced to 35 in 2005.

A shrine dubbed the Tree of Shame has motorcycle parts attached to it by those who weren’t able to tame the dragon.

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2. Cherohala Skyway (Tennessee and North Carolina)

Cherohala Skyway, also known as Overhill Skyway, is a National Scenic Byway that stretches 43 miles from Tellico Plains to Robinville. The road runs through both the Cherokee National Forest and the Nantahala National Forest (the road’s name is a portmanteau of Cherokee and Nantahala). It reaches elevations of over 5,400 feet, and with many sweeping curves and very little traffic at night, the road can be especially dangerous in the winter. The byway provides access to several viewpoints, recreational areas, and vistas.

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3. Twisted Sisters (Texas)

A grouping of great motorcycle roads, Ranch Roads 335, 336, and 337 in the Texas Hill Country are nicknamed the Twisted Sisters. While they don’t possess the level of difficulty of the Tail of the Dragon, the roads aren’t meant for amateur riders. The Twisted Sisters take riders through a 100-mile loop of Texas ranches, valleys, and hills. Providing panoramic views, they curve around canyons and rises with few guardrails. One 15-mile stretch is said to have about 65 curves. Within and nearby the loop, several roadside attractions can be visited — the Lone Star Motorcycle Museum, Stonehenge II, Frio Canyon Motorcycle Stop, and Lost Maples State Natural Area are all notable stops.

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4. Blue Ridge Parkway (Virginia and North Carolina)

469 miles in length, the Blue Ridge Parkway spans 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties alongside the Blue Ridge Mountains. Top speed on the Blue Ridge Parkway is 45mph due to the numerous sharp curves and elevation changes. The parkway can be ridden in one day, although two days are typically recommended. There are no gas stations on the parkway itself — you have to exit in order to fill up. As the elevation changes throughout, riders will notice the trees change from oak and hickory to conifers. Many trees are permanently contorted due to the constant winds in several areas around ridges and passes.

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5. Beartooth Highway (Montana and Wyoming)

Beartooth Highway (a section of US Route 212) is a stretch of road between Red Lodge and Cooke City, Montana. A steep road consisting of many zigzags and switchbacks, it brings riders to an elevation of 10,947 feet at Beartooth Pass. The 69-mile highway is typically only open from mid-May to mid-October, and along the short route riders twist through rocky mountains, glaciers, and wildflower-laden alpine meadows. Well known for its thunderstorms and heavy winds, Beartooth Highway has even seen snowstorms during the summertime.

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6. Pacific Coast Highway (California)

The Pacific Coast Highway, or California State Route 1, is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful motorcycle roads in America. While the PCH stretches from Orange County to Mendocino County, the most notable part of the ride runs through Big Sur. As the name suggests, the 123-mile portion of the PCH hugs rugged cliffs around central California’s coastline. With sharp dropoffs, hairpin turns, and heavy fog on the two-lane highway, the PCH demands that riders keep their eyes on the road, despite the distracting scenes of redwoods, crashing waves, and million-dollar mansions.

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7. Skyline Drive (Georgia)

With 75 overlooks peering out into the Shenandoah Valley to the east and the Piedmont to the west, Skyline Drive attracts over two million visitors annually. Most popular in the fall due to the changing leaves, this National Scenic Byway has a speed limit of 35mph on account of the traffic, curves, and wildlife. White-tailed deer, black bears, and wild turkey are frequently sighted on the road. Skyline Drive is 105 miles long and runs north to south as the only public road through Shenandoah National Park. The park, in which roadsides are intentionally left unmowed so wildflowers can grow year-round, is known to have one of the densest black bear populations in the United States.

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8. Pig Trail Scenic Byway (Arkansas)

The Pig Trail, a 19-mile portion of Arkansas Highway 23, is a scenic byway of steep hills, dropoffs, and switchbacks cutting through Ozark National Forest. The road is variously said to have been named after the University of Arkansas football team, the resemblance between the road’s curves and a pig’s tail, and the hogs that roam the area — the true origin remains unclear. Running along the heavily wooded Boston Mountains, the Pig Trail additionally provides access to recreational activities, including whitewater rafting, kayaking, and camping. The road is popular in the spring and fall, when wildflowers bloom and leaves turn to autumn colors, respectively.

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9. San Juan Skyway (Colorado)

Having earned its place as an All-American Road, the San Juan Skyway is a scenic 233-mile route through the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado. The looping road brings riders through historic mining camps, ski resorts (including Telluride), and national parks. The San Juan Skyway requires care due to dropoffs, S-curves, and constant ascents and descents. Many ghost towns can be viewed from above as the road climbs to over 11,000 feet at the summit of Red Mountain Pass. The Million Dollar Highway section of the road is particularly scenic — mountain goats, black bears, and mule deer can be spotted amongst the waterfalls, gorges, and mountain peaks.

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10. Natchez Trace Parkway (Tennessee)

The Natchez Trace Parkway offers riders 444 miles of scenery and 10,000 years of North American history. The Natchez Trace footpath was originally traversed by Native Americans hunting American bison. The two-lane parkway, which prohibits commercial traffic, has a speed limit of 50mph, and the journey typically spans two days but can be covered in one. Throughout the ride on the parkway, riders zoom past ghost towns, Spanish moss hanging from trees, and Civil War battlegrounds.

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11. Going-to-the-Sun Road (Montana)

The only road that cuts through Montana’s Glacier National Park, Going-to-the-Sun stretches approximately 50 miles. In 2014, the often-snow-covered road isn’t scheduled to open in its entirety until June 20th at the earliest. It takes nearly 10 weeks to plow (and sometimes must be plowed several times). The ride lasts roughly two hours without stops, and five of Glacier National Park’s campgrounds are located along the road.

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12. Tunnel of Trees (Michigan)

A portion of Michigan’s 27.5-mile M-119, the Tunnel of Trees (as the name suggests) is a scenic road surrounded by heavy foliage. The Tunnel of Trees notably lacks a centerline. It’s popular in the autumn when the canopy changes colors, and openings in the trees provide for scenes of Lake Michigan. The area was once inhabited by the Ottawa Indians, as well as trappers, traders, and loggers. The Tunnel of Trees Scenic Heritage Route is a popular tourist attraction in the area.

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30 Japanese idioms we should use

Photo: Nicola

Growing up half-Japanese, my ethnic identity was always being contested. I wanted desperately to be able to integrate fully into the Japanese portion of my family, not least because my mother would always chat with my grandmother in the native language, which drove my brother and me nuts (we always knew they were talking trash about us right in front of us). I picked up a few phrases here and there (mostly during my Anime phase), but never quite got around to learning the language like I’d hoped.

Among the many idioms and proverbs the Japanese have in their extensive language, my favorite brand is the Yojijukugo (the “four character idiomatic phrase”), which is composed of 4 kanji characters whose overall meaning cannot be inferred from the individual characters’ meanings. As an added bonus, dropping any one of these casually into conversation will make you sound like a sage mystic, wise and mysterious.

Here are 30 Japanese idioms we should really start using in English (starting with the Yojijukugo):

1. 自業自得

“One’s act, one’s profit.”

Equivalent to “you reap what you sow,” this one rings way more timelessly as few are sowing these days.

2. 十人十色

“Ten men, ten colors.”

Aka, “different strokes for different folks” — I prefer the image of colors to the image of folks getting stroked.

3. 起死回生

“Wake from death and return to life.”

Meaning “to turn a bad or desperate situation into a success,” this truly underscores just how dire some bad situations feel sometimes.

4. 我田引水

“Pulling water to my own rice paddy.”

“Doing or saying things for one’s own benefit.” While totally regionally charged, I feel like dropping this one would give you an air of well-traveled-ness.

5. 悪因悪果

“Evil cause, evil effect.”

Another “you reap what you sow,” this one is a tad more specific, and almost suggests a karmic outcome.

6. 見ぬが花

“Not seeing is a flower.”

I love the fact that the Japanese use “flower” to describe imagination, beauty, and sometimes pointlessness. In this case, “reality cannot compete with imagination.”

7. 弱肉強食

“The weak are meat; the strong eat.”

“Survival of the fittest” — I like eating meat so this was always going to appeal to me, and it rhymes.

8. 海千山千

“Ocean thousand mountain thousand.”

A reference to a “sly old fox,” someone who has been through everything and seen everything and can therefore handle any situation, usually through cunning. A thousand oceans, a thousand mountains, an ultimate badass.

9. 酔生夢死

“Drunken life, dreamy death.”

Meaning to dream one’s life away, or spending all one’s time dreaming without accomplishing anything significant…at least this one seems to make light of the situation.

10. 一期一会

“One life, one encounter.”

Every encounter is a once-in-a-lifetime encounter — this really underscores how many first-and-only-time things happen in the day-to-day.

11. 異体同心

“Different body, same mind.”

Harmony of mind between two people — this one is a bit more literal, and a hair creepy, but I love it all the same. Sort of like “brother from another mother.”

12. 羊頭狗肉

“Sheep head, dog meat.”

Meaning false advertising, or “crying wine and selling vinegar,” the image this one paints is more graphic, and therefore more powerful.

13. 会者定離

“Meeting person always separated.”

Possibly the most “Confucius”-esque of the bunch, this one simply means “every meeting must end in parting.”

14. 美人薄命

“Beautiful person, thin life.”

More superstition than anything else, this one really means “a beautiful woman is destined to die young,” but is probably analogous to “beauty fades.”

15. 自業自得

“Work of self, obtainment of self.”

“You get what you give,” but this one sounds way more fulfilling. Perhaps it’s the use of the word “self”; “you get what you give” feels like an exchange, where as “work of self, obtainment of self” feels more like your work is its own soul-reward.

Other idiomatic phrases that relate to English idioms or proverbs:

16. 虎穴に入らずんば虎子を得ず。

“If you do not enter the tiger’s cave, you will not catch its cub.”

Nothing ventured, nothing gained…but from now on everything I’m venturing to gain shall be considered a tiger’s cub.

17. 猿も木から落ちる。

“Even monkeys fall from trees.”

A considerably more hilarious way to say “everybody makes mistakes.”

18. 蓼食う虫も好き好き

“There are even bugs that eat knotweed.”

A roundabout way to say “there’s no accounting for taste / to each his own,” plus you get to say “knotweed” (of course, referring to Japanese knotweed, one of the world’s worst invasive species).

19. 蛙の子は蛙。

“Child of a frog is a frog.”

“Like father, like son,” but not so human-centric.

20. 覆水盆に帰らず。

“Spilt water will not return to the tray.”

I like this way of saying “no use crying over spilled milk,” mainly because water seems way less significant a loss than milk.

21. 知らぬが仏

“Not knowing is Buddha.”

A way more mystical way to say “ignorance is bliss.” Bust this one out on the beach or at a party, trust me.

22. 猫に小判

“Gold coins to a cat.”

Okay, both forms of this sort of baffle me. Meaning “pearls before swine” (giving a gift to someone who can’t appreciate it), it’s a bit of a tossup as to which is the better image. Better use them interchangeably.

Other idiomatic phrases that don’t relate to anything in English:

23. 井の中の蛙大海を知らず。

“A frog in a well does not know the great sea.”

Way easier to say than: “People make judgments based on their own limited experiences, with no knowledge of the world outside of those experiences.”

24. 二兎を追う者は一兎をも得ず。

“One who chases after two hares won’t catch even one.”

Of course this one means “if you try to do two things at once, you will fail at both.” Like two birds with one stone, (which I may use a little liberally and sometimes inappropriately), I like sayings that include two animals…I’m not entirely sure why.

25. 門前の小僧習わぬ経を読む。

“An apprentice near a temple will recite the scriptures untaught.”

Way better than “people are products of their environment” — I like the idea that the right environment can transmit knowledge and skills. Yes, it obviously doesn’t work like that, but I can say conclusively I was at my most creative and productive when surrounded by like-minded people.

26. 七転び八起き

“Fall down seven times, stand up eight.”

This one has “perseverance is better than defeat” and the age-old “if at first you don’t succeed” rolled into one, but has a way cooler vibe to it. Something about only having to get up one time more than you fall down really speaks to me.

27. 案ずるより産むが易し。

“Giving birth to a baby is easier than worrying about it.”

Basically “fear is greater than the danger [of the thing being feared].” Personally, while I can’t relate to giving birth, to me there’s something poetic about comparing dread to childbirth, with childbirth itself being less hassle than dread.

28. 馬鹿は死ななきゃ治らない。

“Unless an idiot dies, he won’t be cured.”

A harsh way to say “only death will cure a fool,” it sort of speaks to the incurable nature of ignorance.

29. 秋茄子は嫁に食わすな。

“Don’t let your daughter-in-law eat your autumn eggplants.”

Meaning “don’t let yourself be taken advantage of,” this one is just too ridiculous not to immediately integrate into our daily speech.

30. 花より団子

“Dumplings rather than flowers.”

This one is used to refer to someone who prefers substance over style, a practical person. There’s that use of “flower” again, and as a foodie c’mon, how was I not supposed to favor this saying.

The post 30 awesome Japanese idioms we should start using in English appeared first on Matador Network.

20 videos that will make you want to travel to Fjord Norway

LAST YEAR, MATADOR sent several members of our Ambassador team to Fjord Norway to explore the one-of-a-kind landscapes, culture, and adventure activities in this southwestern region of glaciers, mountains, and fjords. They captured a total of 20 incredible videos, many of which we published to accompany the stories our Ambassadors wanted to tell about their experiences in Fjord Norway. The others have never appeared on Matador…until now.

Below, please enjoy all 20 episodes of this mega-series, proudly produced in partnership with our Friends at Fjord Norway:

EXPLORE

Fjord Norway

See 10 more videos of Fjord Norway on page 2 >>

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Map: Cigarette smokers in the USA

I’M SURPRISED THAT only 18% of New Yorker State residents smoke, but maybe that’s because the cheapest pack of cigarettes you can find will cost you $9. It’s interesting to compare and contrast the darker blue states to the lighter blue ones — what makes West Virginia so different from Utah? Culturally, Mormons are not supposed to indulge in tobacco products, but then what’s California’s excuse?

I was however, surprised at how low the percentages seemed to me. I feel like everyone in New York City smokes, but really, I’m only seeing a small cross section of the state. And 18% of 19.57 million people, is still a lot of people. It would be interesting to see this map again in another ten years, along with whatever efforts might be in place by then to prevent people from smoking like they did in the 1950s.

Infographic credit: Kayla Matthews, for 12 Keys Rehab.

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