Matador Network's Blog, page 2296

4 years to perfect your curling

The Olympics are over, but if you’ve found yourself filled with athletic fervor and have decided to add “win an Olympic Medal” to the bucket list, your best bet is probably curling. Not only does it regularly involve drinking during gameplay, but it’s one of the least physically demanding sports of the Olympic events. This isn’t to say it’s easy: it does require a good amount of skill, as it’s basically shuffleboard on ice, but it doesn’t require insane 10,000 calorie diets like that of Michael Phelps, or impossibly difficult training schedules. On top of this, there does not appear to be an age limit: the oldest ever winter Olympian was a curler.

Personally, I’ve never been that impressed with curling until I saw this awesome video, narrated by David Attenborough to be like a nature show. Then I thought: chilling out on the ice with a bunch of my friends, drinking and pushing rocks around? Yeah, I can think of worse ways to spend my time. Pyeongchang 2018, here I come.

The post You’ve got 4 years to perfect your curling skills appeared first on Matador Network.

Powder for Powder, episode 3

This is episode 3 of a 5-part exclusive series, presented by Caldwell Collections and Matador Network. Learn more.

ARRIVING AT THE PARKING LOT on Thompson Pass felt like reaching the light at the end of a very long tunnel — after all, five days on the ALCAN Highway from Revelstoke is no small feat. Yancy and I pulled in late night in a sideways blizzard to the mountain pass we would call home for the next three weeks. We decided to come a week early to feel out the snow and lay some fresh tracks before the tailgating madness began. Emerging from the camper the next morning, I kept an eye on my brother’s face as his eyeballs widened, seeing snow-caked mountains rising 4,000 vertical feet straight from the parking lot. “H-o-l-y Shiiit,” he exclaimed.

Tailgate Alaska is held at the base of the Worthington Glacier, the closest possible parking to world-renowned powder turns. By means of touring gear, snowmobile, and helicopter, people of all walks of life migrate to Valdez, AK each spring to rip some classic Alaskan terrain on either side of the Richardson State Highway. Tailgate Alaska, now in it’s fifth year, has grown to almost 500 people from a small diehard crew of five guys dreaming big and not afraid to share the wealth. Weathering all conditions, meeting new people, enjoying the scenery/beer, learning about snow safety, and of course, getting into big lines, is what Tailgate is about.

With 3 heli operations within 15 miles, getting on the schedule for an unforgettable day is easy. For the more cost-efficient scenario, bring your snowmobile and you will not be disappointed with how many long pow laps you will log, sometimes when the heli can’t even fly.

Yancy and I met up with many good friends who’d made the pilgrimage to AK, and the good times started flowing, as did the free Alaskan Amber beer. You know you’re in the right place at the right time when seasoned big mountain riders tell you at the nightly bonfire that they just rode the best spine or chute run of their entire life. Powder is usually plentiful, but beware of waking to boiler plate backside turns the next morning — the wind can howl across the Chugach! Even with 500 people, though, the Alaskan terrain is so vast and abundant that the thought of it getting tracked out is not a concern.

After five days of bluebird powder, another storm rolled in to hit the reset button just in time for the “King of the Hill” Freeride World Championship event, put on by Tailgate Alaska. Low and behold, I picked a technical line to ride that had sheltered powder inside a nook on Python Peak, rode it clean, and took home the championship title and samurai sword. I was stoked that my peers voted my line as the winning run, as it always feels good to come out victorious knowing your fellow riders approved.

Our crew awoke each morning not knowing what the winter wonderland of the Chugach Mountains would bring. But as all good things must come to an end, the Tailgate lot dispersed in a flurry as another heavy storm socked in…and another legendary Alaskan event was about to unfold a short 160 miles to the north. The energy of Arctic Man was calling, and good friend Nate Holland promised powder in the Hoodoo Mountains.

Words and photos by Wyatt Caldwell; video by Yancy Caldwell.

1


Home sweet home. Not a bad place to park for three weeks...that is, if you don't mind the sound of helicopters and snowmobiles every morning.





2


Here's a view of the famous zone called "The Books" due to its bookshelf-style ramps. It's a risky 16-mile sled ride each way...better not get caught in the quick-building fog.





3


Sledding in Alaska is humbling to say the least. Vast mountains present dangerous crevasses, meaning picking the right route of travel is a must in order to access the goods.




Get access to all 5 episodes as they're released: Powder for Powder




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Yancy getting his mind blown 3,000 feet to the valley floor, in an area known as Loveland.





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The harbor at Valdez has some classic maritime history, as evidenced by a graveyard of ships lining the marina. If wrecks could talk, these would have some tales to tell. The Kingfisher is only taking the winter off, and will return to the water after the spring snow melt.





6


A day out with H20 heli was part of the "King of the Hill" Freeride World Tour. "Just another run in the Chugach."





7


Yancy amping on his super loose run down the Tiger's Penis spine. His first AK heli run!





8


Yancy and I pause to shoot a time-lapse and take a breather after hiking Python Peak, behind us.





9


The evening light creeps up the Python as we race to hike the ridge at sunset. Feeling lucky to be in the right place at the right time.





10


I managed to take home the W and the samurai sword along with women's champ and Japanese ripper Yoko Nakamura.

The post Powder for Powder, ep. 3: Tailgate Alaska appeared first on Matador Network.

How to piss off someone from Manchester

Photo: Tony Eccles

Welcome to Manchester, fondly known of as “Madchester” thanks to our music scene of the ’90s, or “Gunchester” in more recent years, but we’re not going to go into that. As one of the largest cities in the UK, the second largest if you count Greater Manchester, Mancunia, the capital of the North, is home to a diverse range of people, but with one thing in common — what pisses us off.

So how do you well and truly boil our piss?

Start a Northerners vs. Southerners argument.

This great debate takes place at universities up and down the country as Mancs, Scousers, Geordies, and the like are lumped into one category in a faceoff with country bumpkins, Cockneys, and toffs. While those from the Midlands get to sit on the fence, choose their side, or more likely have their side chosen for them because apparently if you’re from anywhere north of London, you’re a Northerner.

Whichever side you’re on, let’s face it, somebody’s going to get pissed off. As far as Mancunians are concerned, you will come across two types of people. The first type will vehemently defend Manchester and her Northern sisters until they can think of no other way to win than to shout the other down with a rendition of “Oh Manchester is wonderful, oh Manchsterrrr is wonderful…”

And then there are those who seriously couldn’t give a shit. It’s not that they aren’t loyal and dutiful Mancs, they just don’t care that you believe you don’t have an accent because you’re from the South.

Support the wrong football team.

If you thought the North vs. South debate was bad, think again. The rivalry between Manchester United and Manchester City fans is unmatched. I have fortunately only been witness to some amicable banter between reds and blues, but know for a fact that people can turn sour when riled up over the beautiful game.

More like this: How to piss off a Manchester United fan

For that reason we have red and blue pubs. And whether you even like football or not you have to choose a camp for derby day. If you’re from Manchester and support Liverpool, you will be mocked into eternity. Supporting Everton, forget it. Arsenal, Chelsea, or Spurs, even worse.

Talk about the weather.

Unlike many Americans who are able to politely joke about poor weather, us Mancs straight up moan about ours constantly. It’s always rainy in Manchester! It is cold and rains almost half of the days in every month, including summer. And I would say it’s grey for most of the other days.

It’s no wonder then that every other Mancunian is swanning off to Australia when the opportunity arises. Or at the very least they’re counting down the days until their beach holidays on Facebook — enough already.

Don’t talk to us on the bus.

Or in a queue, or at a supermarket checkout, or at the bar…I’m sure you get the gist. What can I say? Us Mancs are just very friendly, chatty people.

Do an impression of a Manc and get it completely wrong.

What does someone from Manchester actually sound like? Are they forever lengthening their i’s like a member of Oasis? (“Slip inside the eye of your miiiiiind…”) Do they wander around saying things like “reet” and calling everyone “duck” like they’re on Coronation Street?

For the large part the answer is no. The above questions are actually giving those who attempt a Manchester accent too much credit. What you mostly hear is a sort of standard Northern speak, which usually just means a poor imitation of a Yorkshire accent as in “t’other” or “I’m goin t’ shop.” WE DON’T SPEAK LIKE THAT! [image error]

The post How to piss off someone from Manchester appeared first on Matador Network.

Why empowering women is priority #1

Photo: Gates Foundation

1. Women start small businesses faster than men.

From home-based micro-businesses to small startups and shops, women will create over half of the 9.72 million new small-business jobs Forbes is predicting we’ll have by 2018. Not only are women creating more jobs, the National Federation for Independent Businesses says women-owned small businesses weather recessions more effectively and show more adaptability than men-owned small businesses. Want to have more jobs and more stability in the workforce? Support women’s business!

2. Insane innovation comes from women!

If the pee-powered generator built by a group of 14-year-old girls in Nigeria wasn’t enough, what about this Turkish girl who figured out how to turn bananas into bioplastic…or Ada Lovelace, who invented the first computer program? Women have been innovating and excelling in the fields of science and math for hundreds of years…despite facing harassment and discrimination. More empowerment means more women in science, which means more life-saving inventions.

3. Half the world’s population are women.

Literally half of the seven billion people on the planet are female, yet a white woman in the United States makes 80 cents for every dollar a white man makes (black women make 70 cents and Hispanic women make 60 cents, by the way). If 50% of global population suffers daily discrimination, increased risk of assault, and all kinds of other delightful problems just by virtue of being female, we can say that empowerment should be a top priority.

4. Save your country’s economy!

Financial empowerment of women spurs economic growth within a country…which can lead to the country becoming more stable, reducing poverty, and becoming a bigger player in the global market. Having more bargaining chips on the table can help a country’s leaders make better deals with other governing bodies, as well as receive aid and support more effectively. Bottom line: More empowered women means more safety and security.

5. We’ll see more and better food, for everyone.

The vast majority (80%) of agricultural workers in the world are female. Empowerment to grow, buy, and sell the crops they want decreases malnourishment in producing countries and increases the amount of food available for export. Did you eat today? Thank a (female) farmer.

6. Better lives for men!

If women are empowered, that frees men from the pressure to be the primary wage-earner and shows little boys they can explore all aspects of who they are, without paying attention to roles that are traditionally “masculine” or “feminine.” Men will have more freedom to work part-time or take care of children, which frees them up for other, more interesting activities. What’s the advantage to this? Society loosens up, and everyone is free to be who they truly want to be. Sounds pretty amazing.

7. Political empowerment means more and better policies.

When policymakers are mostly men, it seems like the needs of women (and a lot of other people) get thrown by the wayside. When women stand up in political forums, we get legislation that can save lives, protect young girls, and provide access to needed healthcare. If we want our daughters to have the care they need in the future, we need more women in political power now. Empowerment for everyone!

8. Down with capitalism!

Are you a social activist? Do you hate big corporations like Coca Cola and Unilever? Did you camp out in Zuccotti Park with the rest of Occupy? The social, political, and financial empowerment of women would require massive shifts and changes to the status quo…you know, the patriarchal hegemonic white supremacist capitalist situation we have going on right now. What would we get in its place? Who knows, but it couldn’t be worse, right?

9. Better literature!

Two-thirds of the 774 million adult illiterates across the world are women. Imagine if the best book you’ve ever read was going to be written by a woman who hasn’t yet been taught to read? Women’s empowerment will lead to more journalism, better books and movies, and more interesting stories being told. As a kid who grew up with my nose in a book, this sounds like the best possible outcome for everyone.

10. Overturn nasty beauty standards…for everyone.

Everyone’s seen beauty magazines, with their focus on hairless, sculpted, unreal, bleached and plucked specimens of humanity…and that’s just the men. The current beauty standards teach everybody to hate themselves because they’re too fat, too hairy, too old, or just plain not airbrushed enough. If we’re willing to empower women to accept who they are and how they look (beautiful!), men will reap the benefits and stop having to worry about their appearances and feel bad too. Throw the beauty magazines away before we all feel ugly.

11. Disappearing indigenous cultures could get a new shot at surviving.

In Canada, the Idle No More movement, started by four women, grew to be an international rallying point for indigenous rights and activism…and Chief Theresa Spence of Attawapiskat went on hunger strike for six weeks to convince the Prime Minister to discuss the dangerous poverty her community was enduring. Australia just elected its first Aboriginal Parliamentary member in 2013, while New Zealand had a Maori transwoman as an MP for the Labour Party from 1999-2007. All these loud women mean native cultures are getting revitalized in new and exciting ways.

12. Save the planet!

If fertility rates continue the way they are now, scientists estimate the world’s population will swell to 10 billion by 2081. That’s 10 billion people competing for food, water, and other resources. One of the best ways to ensure that we live in a safe, healthy, and sustainable world is to support women who want reproductive healthcare and effective contraception. Nobody wants to worry about fighting for fresh water, and empowering women with voluntary family planning is a surefire route to a happier, healthier planet.

The post 12 reasons why empowering women should be the world’s top priority appeared first on Matador Network.

Finding the lost River Effra, London

All photos: Author

The River Effra is one of London’s great lost waterways. Rising near Crystal Palace, its course flows through Norwood, Dulwich, Herne Hill, Brixton, and Kennington, before finally emptying into the Thames beside Vauxhall Bridge. Since Victorian times this ancient river has been lost from sight, however, flowing through subterranean passages and drains deep beneath the city streets.

I took a trip down to London Below in order to walk the course of this long-forgotten Thames tributary.

The River Effra

The Effra is referred to frequently in historical texts. In Thames: Sacred River, Peter Ackroyd writes that the Effra took its name from the Celtic word yfrid, meaning “torrent.” One myth tells that Queen Elizabeth I sailed the Effra in her royal barge, to visit Sir Walter Raleigh at his Brixton home.

By the late 17th century, though, the Effra (like most of London’s waterways) had begun to deteriorate into an open sewer.

In the mid-19th century, the famed civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette redirected some segments of the Effra to form the Southern High Level Sewer, also known as the Effra Sewer, as well as the Southern Low Level Sewer, which in turn feeds into the Southern Outfall Sewer. One of the more notable stretches lies beneath Effra Road in Brixton, supposedly accessible through the crypts of St. Luke’s Church at West Norwood.

A local legend from Victorian times describes a coffin which appeared floating down the Effra. The corresponding grave at West Norwood Cemetery was found to be untouched, however, and so it was concluded that the casket had subsided into a section of the subterranean river below.

Loitering on a street corner until a gap appeared in the flow of disinterested passers-by, we made a decisive dash toward the drain cover.

My guide on this voyage into the dank bowels of London was local explorer Keïteï. She was no stranger to the subterranean network of drains and sewers that fan out beneath the streets of the capital, and was keen to revisit the Effra, so often overlooked in favour of its larger lost cousin, the River Fleet.

We met near Clapham, following a series of residential streets until we reached our entry point: an unexceptional manhole cover set into a stretch of suburban pavement. It was daylight still, and a steady stream of commuters were drifting past us from the tube. We would have to time it perfectly.

We opted for a policy of speed rather than subterfuge; all being well, we decided that it should take us no longer than 20 seconds to lift the lid, reach the ladder inside, and close the drain behind us. Anyone who spotted us — be they public, police, or the council authorities we had briefly considered impersonating — would have to act fast if they were going to stop us. Once inside, it seemed unlikely anyone in their right mind would follow us down.

Loitering on a street corner until a gap appeared in the flow of disinterested passers-by, we made a decisive dash toward the drain cover, lifting it without difficultly, and, alive with adrenaline, I followed Keïteï down the rusted ladder and into the stale darkness below.

To London Below

The first access ladder was relatively short, but just a few feet away from its base the real descent began — a long shaft falling away to the river itself, the ladder disappearing into darkness.

On finally reaching the banks of the Effra, the word ‘river’ seemed like something of a misnomer. Instead, we found a trail of black slime smeared along the belly of a grey concrete tube. Several rats looked up in surprise at our arrival — their dull, beady eyes throwing back the torchlight — before turning tail to disappear into the hidden depths.

The tunnel angled downwards as it flowed past us, right to left, in the direction of the Thames. Here the murky liquid grew deeper, black with corruption and as still as a corpse. A loud belch echoed about us from somewhere downstream — the “Gurgle Pit,” as some explorers know it.

We turned right, away from the miasma, and waded upstream. The still water was thick with sediment, a black sludge flecked with traces of white and grey which looked suspiciously like fat deposits. Strange tufts of mould would occasionally drift past our feet, sprouting from tiny rafts of unnamable, buoyant matter.

At regular intervals, chains had been hung across the waterway to catch floating debris. Now these were thick with rags, snatches of clothing, hair and ribbons, which had built up over the years. I found a beaded necklace suspended from one of the furry chains, twisted into a rope of discoloured fabric.

In Victorian London, there were people who made a living collecting such trinkets. These brave souls would sail along London’s hidden rivers on punts or barges, fishing for scrap metal or jewelry that had accidentally made its way into the city’s drains.

We lit candles, the simple ritual exciting a ruddy glow from the surrounding walls.

From time to time, red brick passages led off to either side. Many were fitted with ladders back to the surface, to emerge through unmarked drain lids trodden each day by countless unsuspecting pedestrians. In one alcove a rule had been placed to measure depth — an indication that the Effra was not always so feeble as it now appeared, at the height of a rare English drought. Another siding led to a vast sluice gate, designed to control the flow of other drains joining the subterranean river.

Soon our surroundings changed. Reaching a junction between streams, the grey tunnel gave way to elaborate brickwork. Vaulted red passages formed an ornate intersection, the carefully laid bricks throwing back our torchlight in shades of red and orange, accentuated with subtler blue-green hues. Some urban explorers refer to Effra as the “Rubix Drain” — most likely a comparison between the multichromatic brickwork of the Southern Outfall Sewer and a Rubik’s Cube.

It was strange to observe just how much thought the Victorians had put into the design of their subterranean canals — spaces never intended for human traffic — and yet it seemed a fine example of the mentality of the day: function never without care for form, grand gestures made simply because they could.

We lit candles, the simple ritual exciting a ruddy glow from the surrounding walls. Just then a drain further upstream must have flooded a gate, and a new lease of life bubbled through the tunnels ahead. Here was the torrent at last, a playful stream rising fast around our boots. Writing about the sacred forces of the Effra, Ackroyd claims, “its powers have departed.” Although the river’s strength may be diminished, the vaulted red tomb Bazalgette built for her — itself a wonder of civil engineering — holds a tangible power all its own.

After several hours exploring the drain, we emerged through the same hatch. Coming out is sometimes riskier than going in — you never know who’s going to be about. On this occasion the street was empty, however, as we rolled from the top of the ladder onto the pavement, leaving trails of clay-like muck spread across the tarmac. On the far side of the street, now dimmed by twilight, a lone cyclist stood playing with his helmet — awkwardly adjusting straps, checking his tyres, inspecting his phone — anything but acknowledge the two strange figures that had just crawled giggling out of a sewer.

I threw him a cheery smile as we vanished into the night.

This post was originally published at The Bohemian Blog and is reprinted here with permission.

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4 winter adventures in Alberta [vid]

SPENCER SPELLMAN, editor-in-chief of the Expedia Viewfinder blog, and I landed in Calgary mere moments before a winter storm would sweep in, strand motorists, and produce a ‘cold snap’ that eventually would bottom out at -36 Celsius.

Our weeklong journey through Calgary, Canmore, Banff, and Lake Louise would be punctuated by plummeting temperatures, and being two jolly travelers from the land of Los Angeles, our thin skin was ill suited for frost gathering. To say we were undaunted would be a half-truth — we were daunted all right, but our mission was to experience a new winter adventure every day, and despite losing feeling in our face (and fingers), we were extremely excited for our week of activities.

Although we were not adventuring with an air of antagonism, it seemed from the start we were beset by nature itself and that if we were to hike, ski, snowboard, fly, mush, and explore, we were going to have to take Alberta head on and ready for a fight — hence, VS Alberta.

This didn’t feel like a mere week of travels — it felt rather like a series of awesome obstacles to be bested below zero and captured with my ever-present GoPro.

1. Dog sledding with Snowy Owl Sled Dog Tours

After a short introduction and some safety warnings, Spencer and I acquired our very own dog sled team and were off racing over the snow with gigantic shit-eating grins on our faces. Dog sledding is exactly the way you might imagine it — only infinitely better because the reality of six super-dogs straining through the snow is more thrilling than the visuals could ever suggest.

2. Helicopter tour with Rockies Heli Tours

The Rockies loom large out the window, winking in the late morning light under a fresh dusting of snow. The helicopter banks and I try in vain to hold the GoPro steady while we descend to land next to the Bow River.

3. Johnston Canyon Icewalk with Discover Banff

Everything in Johnston Canyon is frozen. The river, the rocks, the waterfalls — everything. The Johnston Canyon Icewalk is a visit to a land under a spell of ice. The moderate walk (we spent about two hours in the canyon) terminates at a frozen waterfall and ice-encased walls that rise up to meet the cobalt blue sky.

4. Skiing at Lake Louise Ski Resort

Lake Louise Ski Resort is incredible. The day we spent skiing was the coldest of our trip, -36 Celsius, a fact that clashes with images of the perfect bluebird day I present to you here — but trust me, this is cold at a scary level. Louise is enormous and has huge views and long runs…between which we ate elk chili in the lodge and commiserated over thawing fingers.

A note on the videos

The first video in this article is a mashup of all 4 VS Alberta adventures and serves as an intro and a jumping off point for the rest of the vids. Using YouTube annotated links1 you may click on each of the adventures as they are introduced by clicking on the annotation box. At the end of each adventure video, there’s a video selection screen that allows viewers to choose a new Alberta adventure to experience.

1 Annotations are info boxes, messages, and links within YouTube videos that have been put in place by the video creator. In this case I use annotation links to let viewers jump between videos.

Josh’s travels were sponsored by Travel Alberta and its partners. Accommodations provided by Kensington Riverside Inn, Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge, Sunshine Mountain Lodge, Buffalo Mountain Lodge, and Deer Lodge.

The post Versus Alberta: 4 winter adventures in the Canadian Rockies appeared first on Matador Network.

Never stare at a woman's ass again

NOT ONLY IS this prank beyond hilarious, but it is totally a social commentary call-out on the objectification of the body. It made me think about how I react when I see a bodacious booty on the street — and honestly, I’m no better than some of the people in this video.

The reactions of the passerbys, when confronted by the prankster, were the most surprising part of this video for me. Some were caught off-guard, some got angry, and accusatory. But it always turned into a comedic event between the two men, a laughing-it-off of bro camaraderie, with an underlying anti-homosexual tone (“Are you trying to say I’m gay or something?!”). All’s well when it comes to a dude in tight pants, as long as he isn’t trying to hit on the guy who stared at his ass in the first place.

However, many times when women call out men who ogle at their assets, they aren’t taken seriously. Why does it take a man wearing yoga pants for people to realize how ridiculous it is to objectify a person sexually? When are people going to go beyond the surface in terms of what is attractive to them, and start liking people for who they are, not what’s only on the outside?

(H/T via Thought Catalog)

The post You’ll never stare at a woman’s ass the same way again [vid] appeared first on Matador Network.

On traveling with type 1 diabetes

Photo: Jeff Fillmore

Sometimes people travel to get away from things they’ve grown tired of: the daily routine, a bad relationship, control-freak parents, the weather back home. But a long-term medical condition is not something you can simply leave behind, unpacked, purposely forgotten in the wardrobe, second drawer to the left.

Believe me, I’ve tried.

Ten years ago I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, the one that requires a treatment of daily insulin shots or an insulin pump. I was terrified of needles. Hell, I still am. However, once I found out I had diabetes at the age of 17, my biggest fear was that it would take away my freedom, my lifestyle. It didn’t, it doesn’t, but it does require I take special precautions.

And so at the age everyone is supposed to think they can live forever, I awoke to the fact I would not, that my life depended on a manmade replacement for a human hormone that is quite expensive. Still today, living my life and traveling with diabetes makes me reflect on power and vulnerability, dependence and freedom, gratitude and entitlement, disabilities and capabilities.

Back in 2005, I traveled abroad for the first time for a work and travel program in the US. My biggest fear was that, after 9-11, security wouldn’t let me transport my 400 syringes and pen needles. It turned out they couldn’t care less about the needles — apparently you can’t hijack a plane with a syringe, even hundreds of them. But oh my, they were very inquisitive about my reactive strips. When you have diabetes, you need to measure your blood sugar with these reactive strips that are, well, reactive. Imagine hundreds of them. It didn’t look pretty on the scanner.

I’d be lying if I said I don’t face limitations when I travel. But who doesn’t? I avoid traveling to places where the purchase of insulin would be difficult, like conflict zones or remote areas. I’m forced to carry extra luggage — my medical supplies usually take up more than half my carry-on, and there’s always a significant amount of carbs stashed in my bags. It’s also necessary to carry a medical note in English explaining my condition.

I would never travel without health insurance or spend time in a country as a “non-formal” worker — I need to be able to go to a hospital if I feel sick. I must eat properly and avoid getting infections; otherwise, my sugar levels could hit the roof. Everyone who’s been on the road can imagine how all this would be an extra burden.

But I’d also be lying if I said I wasn’t able to do things I wanted because of diabetes. In Ecuador, I jumped off a bridge in Baños and reached 5,000 meters above sea level on the Cotopaxi volcano — and yes, it was complicated comparing the typical symptoms of high and low sugar levels with the effects of adrenaline and lack of oxygen. I went on 15-hour hiking excursions in Patagonia, including a slippery glacier trek in the rain near Mt. Fitz Roy, and I spent the best month of my life in a summer camp in Denmark with 48 children and 17 adults from all over the world, despite the sleep deprivation and the non-recommendable sandwich “diet.”

So, okay, I always had to make sure to eat regularly and measure my glucose. But then, diabetes and all — who can take away from me the fact that I did it, I enjoyed it, I experienced all that?

Having diabetes compels me to trust people and their willingness to help no matter their origins, like the Indian waiter who took care of my insulin during an 11-hour layover at Dubai International Airport. Or the now-forgotten faces of those strangers who once helped out when I urgently needed a glass of water and sugar.

Yes, sometimes we travel to get away from things we’re tired of, but often those things follow us wherever we go. Having diabetes on the road has taught me we can only make the most out of life if we learn to live with our demons, if we can accept our limitations as a first step to getting around them, beyond them.

The post What it’s like to travel with type 1 diabetes appeared first on Matador Network.

Hoverboards one year early [vid]

I THOUGHT I’d never live to see the day. How envious was I watching Michael J. Fox rip around on one of these in the Back to the Future trilogy. In Back to the Future II we see Marty McFly (Fox’s character) riding one of these in the year 2015. So the reality has come true one year ahead of its time.

Can you believe it?

The post It’s official: Back to the Future hoverboards are a reality! [vid] appeared first on Matador Network.

18 images of Guatemala

Winter has been especially tough on the Northeastern United States this time around. My partner and I were looking for an escape to somewhere warm and photogenic (for me), and in a region that produced coffee (for him). Both of us would have to return to work the day after we arrived home, so being within one time zone of New York was also a motivating factor.

With so much to explore between Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean, we decided to do a little crowdsourcing. “Guatemala!” was the exclamation that came up over and over. Friends who’d visited in the past assured us we’d get everything we were looking for there. We were sold.

Here’s what we found.

1


Front-row seats to the sun rising over volcanoes at Earth Lodge.

All photos by author





2


Also a working avocado farm, the Earth Lodge property has 390 trees and a cafe serving up guacamole and other afternoon hammock snacks, a happy hour with a portion of beverage proceeds donated to a local village school, and communal vegetarian dinners at night.





3


Waking up in a secluded treehouse on the mountainside overlooking Antigua.





Intermission





10 experiences you can only have in the Guianas





How to use your mobile device to create awesome travel images





The real story from Greece: 11 images of Athens in the age of austerity












4


A view of one of the peaks, from Lake Atitlán.





5


The gorgeous Laguna Lodge, situated on its own nature preserve on Lake Atitlán near Santa Cruz La Laguna.





6


Shoreside sunset views at Lake Atitlán.







7


The calm before the lively crowds arrived at Jose Pinguino’s in Panajachel, a family-owned restaurant serving up traditional Guatemalan fare. Jose himself presided as master of ceremonies over the lively meal prepared by the chef (also his wife), as their daughters performed on the marimbas. The tables and chairs themselves are kaleidoscopically adorned with local traditional clothing.





8


A midnight celebration at the Laguna Lodge.





9


San Pedro La Laguna.





Intermission





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10


Preparations in San Pedro for the approaching new year.







11


In 2010-2011, the water level of Lake Atitlán rose about 15 vertical feet, leaving many scenes like this in the shoreside towns that surround it.





12


Home base in the colonial town of Antigua was the El Convento Boutique Hotel, who generously put us up for the duration of our stay. Located across from the abandoned ruins of the Capuchinas Convent and housed in a historic building, the airy corridors and garden-filled courtyards made for a relaxing place to tuck into.





13


The bustling Dulceria Doña Maria Gordillo, full of Guatemalan sweets.





14


Fresh tortillas in a neighborhood tienda in Antigua.





15


New life is breathed into retired North American school buses as a form of public transport in Guatemala and all over Central America.





Intermission





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16


A woman selling vegetables at the market in Antigua.







17


Antigua has many hauntingly gorgeous ruins to explore, remnants of a Spanish colonial capital toppled by a series of major earthquakes in the 1700s.





18


The streets in many tourist destinations in Guatemala are lined with a variety of sellers offering native (or “native-inspired”) crafts and souvenirs. A little different, the Casa del Tejido is a small museum with a shop selling wares made by local artisans.

The post In the shadow of volcanoes: 18 images of Guatemala appeared first on Matador Network.