Matador Network's Blog, page 2306

We are naturally programmed to cheat, according to this animation

AS AN ANTHROPOLOGY student, I spent a lot of time studying animal and human behavior regarding sex, and emotional activity. There is a lot to say on how the concept of monogamy came about (in the early days, it had more to do with women being seen as “property,” than it’s current-day romantic connotation), but the stark truth is, a majority of animals are not hard-wired to mate with one partner forever.

Before you go out and start sleeping around though, keep in mind — when it comes to partnership, humans take more into consideration than just copulating for better genetic variety, or the probability that their “seed” will be “sown.” We are emotional, and these emotions direct our actions – if we’re happy in a relationship, we tend to stick with our partner. If we’re upset, or feeling unloved, our emotions push us in different directions. It’s not all simple as that, but it gives you a general idea of why we do, what we do (and with whom).

This video also gives new meaning to Cole Porter’s lyrics, “Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it…”

The post We are naturally programmed to cheat, according to this animation appeared first on Matador Network.

White South Africa is small

Photo: Sandra Maytham-Bailey

I must be giving off bad vibes, because I’m on a Paris to Durban flight full of white Southern Africans and it still takes the woman sitting next to me five gin and tonics before she feels bold enough to talk to me.

By the time the captain announces our descent, she’s in full swing. Her new life in Wales, her son, his girlfriend…. Her eyelashes are heavy with the mascara she’s just reapplied, and I find myself mimicking her wide eyes as I listen.

She can’t tell her life story to the couple to her left. It turns out they’re the long lost friends of her father. They already know it.

“What a small world, hey?” she says, looking around for anyone willing to hear about the coincidental reunion.

Yes, I think, White South Africa is small.

By the time our plane touches down on the tarmac at King Shaka International Airport, people are leaning over the backs of their chairs, discussing which friends they have in common, where they’re going to spend Christmas, and who’s going to whose wedding.

We’ve taxied into place. The plane’s been stationary for at least ten minutes now. Bent backs and strained arms under the weight of our bags as we all wait for the doors to open. Our little community has grown quiet. The queue doesn’t budge. All we want is to be out in that humid Durban air.

I’m reminded why all the chummy small talk makes me claustrophobic. It’s only chummy because we’re united by colour.

Just when our tired silence becomes too much to bear, my mascara neighbour leans forward to the man she was chatting to earlier and says in a thick pastiche of a black South African accent, “There seems to be a problem with the door.”

He sniggers and sends a ripple through the cluster of passengers that overheard. All the warmth drains away. Unsurprised eyes and shaking heads. The words “black incompetence” drift unspoken on the air, and I’m reminded why all the chummy small talk makes me claustrophobic. It’s only chummy because we’re united by colour. The sealed door of our insulated community has barely been opened and already white South Africa is cringing in the face of black South Africa.

* * *

It’s been two weeks and now I’m in a car driving through the green hills of the Eastern Cape, where Nguni cattle graze and where thunderstorms eat at the rivers and make them deep and angry with erosion.

Today the new South Africa is a glinting skyline of solar water heaters over a lean-to shantytown. Today, the new South Africa is all about the silver linings.

The dorps slip by. Maclear, Ugie, Indwe, and then I see a dusty cemetery with skinny gum trees and yellow grass. All the marble gravestones are caged and padlocked against theft. They drift past the window and no one says a thing. That quiet vision of peaceless rest pulls me back from my lighthearted hope and says, “This new South Africa is a whole new beast.”

* * *

The smooth green of the Eastern Cape turns to flat dust. In the Karoo, the finger-long thorns of dead acacias are bleached bone white by the sun. The red and orange cliffs of Meiringspoort rise up out of the desert in time for lunch. It’s like weaving through the molars of a giant. You have to keep your head low to see the mountaintops singing in the bright light.

Photo: Werner Vermaak

All the cars that have been making their way through the landscape alone have parked together in a concentrated hub at the riverbed.

“Shall we just turn around and keep going?” says Ma.

Crowds in beautiful places are her worst, but it’s too hot and we all want to swim in the waterfall. One by one the plug of people drips into single file, and we scramble over the rocks in loose flip-flops and bright swimming trunks. There are thick-necked, hairy-bellied whites. There are slinky, urban, cool-cat blacks. Slim-wristed Indian girls and teeming families of Cape-Coloured kids with gold earrings and scabby knees.

The only thing we all have in common is we’re all middle class enough to be on holiday, and just middle class enough not to turn our noses up at somewhere free.

The waterfall is a high ribbon of white water. It’s drilled a deep black pool into the rock below. Kids patter about in the blue shallows further down, but the real action is happening up at the main falls.

I wend my way up through the crowds and try to ignore the smell of piss coming from the rocky alcoves to my left. There are small ledges high above the pool that you can jump from. The rotund body of an Afrikaaner man waits above us, feet on the edge, stony faced with virility. A buzz of chatter erupts behind me as a black 20-something splits from his group and starts to climb up the cliff. He’s climbing fast, as if going any slower would give him time to think twice. The ledge is small and the two bodies vie for space. The young man whips off his t-shirt, fishes out his cellphone for a quick selfie, removes his cap, and hands the neatly folded pile to the Afrikaaner. His new iPhone crowns the pile. In a place where gravestones get stolen, this is trust. Could it even be community?

The young man says a short prayer and throws himself off the edge. [image error]

The post White South Africa is small appeared first on Matador Network.

What's happening in Venezuela [vid]

AMONGST THE Olympic excitement and the standard Facebook drivel spilling down my feed, I came across this video and a plea from a good friend in Caracas, Venezuela. It stopped me in my tracks, and the video blew me away — not only because of what’s happening in Venezuela right now, but the fact that I’d heard so little about it in the American media.

From my friend in Caracas:

PLEASE TO ALL MY FRIENDS THAT KNOW ME AROUND THE WORLD, MOSTLY MY FRIENDS IN USA AND THE REST IN THE WORLD! THIS IS A MUST WATCH VIDEO OF WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON IN MY BEAUTIFUL LOVELY COUNTRY! MY PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING AND DYING TO GET FREEDOM AND FOOD…

The post You need to see what’s happening in Venezuela right now [vid] appeared first on Matador Network.

10 reasons to visit the Guianas

French Guiana (or Guyane), Suriname (previously Dutch Guiana), and Guyana (until 1966, British Guiana) are undoubtedly the three countries you fail to come up with when trying to fill in a map of South America.

Situated along the northern coast, between Brazil and Venezuela, this obscure region shares little with the rest of the continent. These nations were never conquered by the Spanish or Portuguese, and thus the typical Romance languages you associate with South America aren’t spoken here (they speak French, Dutch, and English, respectively). Culturally, they’re closer to the Caribbean than the rest of South America.

Given the diminutive size of the Guianas, my partner and I expected to cross the region in a matter of weeks. Instead, we stayed a year and a half, and the following experiences were only some of the reasons we had a hard time finally leaving.

1

Watching, or participating in, traditional Kali'na games (French Guiana)
About 10 years ago, the Kali'nas, one of French Guiana's indigenous groups, started organizing annual games to challenge each other in traditional contests. Nowadays, various indigenous groups, French Guyanese, French, and even international teams participate in the weekend-long, adrenaline-filled events. It's quite a spectacle watching people climbing coconut trees, throwing spears, pulling a fishing boat ashore, and running while carrying a 20-kilo tree trunk. Who knows, perhaps you can join a team.

All photos: Coen Wubbels





2

Seeing sloths in the wild (French Guiana)
In some parts of South America sloths are still hunted for their meat, and many die in deforestation projects—moving at 400 meters per hour, they aren't fast enough to escape from the forest when the bulldozing starts. French Guiana, however, has a relatively strict policy on protecting sloths, and as a result it's the best place in South America to see them in the wild. In particular, the Rorota Trail just outside Cayenne is a well-known and accessible habitat.





3

Watching winti rituals (Suriname)

During colonial times, many slaves in Suriname fled from plantations and hid in the rainforest. Their descendants are called Maroons. Many still live in the forest, in . While many have converted to Christianity, ancient traditions and rituals are still very much a part of their lives.

The community of Pikin Slee is especially known for its traditional way of life. This is the place to see winti rituals such as dancing in fire and over burning coals, and unique celebrations that are part of their burial rites, which include dancing and the deceased's family throwing gifts to the public.

Intermission





13 moments of culture shock for the first-time American traveler





21 reasons Portland is the ultimate college town





Unearthing the temple: Portraits of the Mazahua and Mixteca at Mexico City’s Templo Mayor












4

Visiting Europe's Spaceport to watch a rocket launch (French Guiana)

Europe has a spaceport in South America? Yep. French Guiana isn't an independent country, but rather an overseas department of France. Rocket parts and other equipment are shipped in from all over the world, and assembly happens at the launch site in Kourou. There's an extensive museum about the space center's history and projects, and you can visit the site on a three-hour guided bus tour.

When rockets launch (there are some 5 to 10 per year), you can watch them from pretty much anywhere along the coast, or sign up for a spaceport bus that will take you to one of the hills surrounding the site for up-close observation.

5

Celebrating New Year's Eve during the day (Suriname)

The most important part of Suriname's New Year's Eve is celebrated during the day. Around noon, Paramaribo's center is packed when a 20-minute roar starts as a 2km line of firecrackers is lit. Bring earplugs, and your camera. This is the start of an binge of drinking and dancing in the street.






6

Retracing Papillon's steps in France's former penal colony (French Guiana)

For a long time, there was widespread debate as to whether Papillon, written by Henri Charrière, was autobiographic or not. Archives say no, but Charrière was a prisoner here -- you'll find his nickname, Papillon, carved into a wall of one of the cells.

It's assumed that his story is a combination of his and other prisoners' experiences in the penal colony that operated here for over 100 years (1850-1953). There are two places of particular interest: the transportation camp in Saint Laurent de Maroni, where the prisoners arrived from France, and the impressive ruins in the tropical forest of the famous Devil's Island / Îles du Salut.

7

Participating in the prestigious 4-day Savanna Rally (Suriname)
In early November, some 100 teams—national and international—set out to conquer Suriname's savanna. Next to the Dakar Rally, it's South America's biggest off-roading spectacle. Foreigners can rent an equipped 4WD for the event. Signing up is a way to be part of a fantastic Surinamese happening, and to see an extraordinary part of the country's geography, one that is generally omitted from the tourist trail. For information, contact SARK.







8

Canoeing with the Awarak (Guyana)
The Awarak are an indigenous group that lives in the rainforest of west Guyana and can only be reached by boat. They've lost many of their traditions, as well as their language, due to the pressure exerted on them by missionaries to learn English. However, some traditions have remained, like canoeing through savanna-like wetlands—some of the most peaceful places you'll find anywhere.







9

Driving on the longest floating steel bridge in the world (Guyana)
One of the first things Guyanese will mention to visitors is 'their' bridge. They take immense pride in the 1851-meter Demerara Harbour Bridge, which is a chain of steel pontoons that are kept in place with cables. It crosses the Demerara River, was constructed in the 1970s, and is used daily by some 14,000 vehicles.





10

Exploring a goldmining region to try your luck (Guyana)

Whereas in French Guiana and Suriname we were discouraged from going into the interior, we were welcomed into Mahdia, Guyana's largest gold mining region. As the business here is largely legalized, it's under supervision by police and environmental organizations. We felt safe and welcome.

The following example characterized the good vibes: As a guard guided us through the latest "shout"—a place where a new gold vein has been discovered, which will potentially bring in millions—outsiders were sweeping the same area with metal detectors. When we commented on this, our guard said, "No problem. There's enough. This is how we all started, so we cut them a little slack." If you have the inclination to search for gold, this may be the place to start. [image error]

The post 10 experiences you can only have in the Guianas appeared first on Matador Network.

59 questions to improve your writing

Photo: Christian Bucad

Editor’s note: This is the first part of a 5-part series, Transforming your travel writing.

1. What is the editor’s first name?

2. Who are her associate editors?

3. Which of these people are you emailing and why?

4. Is your pitch scannable / actionable in 15 seconds or less?

5. Is a single URL of your other work readily available?

6. How does your story or proposal support / advance the publication’s brand mission?

7. Is this support evident right in the title of the story?

8. Has this same topic / angle already been covered?

9. If so, does it play off an already successful concept in a new way?

10. Are precise place-names, times, dates, used?

11. Is there precise, correct terminology in the descriptions (architectural terms, music, gastronomy, geology, weather)?

12. Are characters introduced in ways that create emotional resonance?

13. Are characters’ proper names provided?

14. Are relationships between characters and the narrator made clear?

15. Is it clear why the narrator is traveling through this place–is there a clear “purpose”?

16. Have you as the author in any way appropriated or confused your subjects’ struggles / challenges / stories as your own?

17. If investigating a certain issue (environmental, social) have you actually spoken to people affected by the issue?

18. If investigating a certain issue (environmental, social) have you actually spoken to people with a vested interest in companies / political parties / etc. connected to the issue?

19. Are you in any way “speaking for” a people or culture you’re not actually from?

20. What have you left out of your story and why?

21. Who are you actually writing the story for?

22. How can you make the emotions you portray in your story more accurately reflect the emotions you actually felt during the experience?

23. Are there material connections (financial arrangements, etc) to elements in your story that you don’t reveal?

24. What would the reactions be of the characters and / or subject of your story, if they were to read it?

25. What does the landscape in your story sound like?

26. What are the natural indicators of the season, the time of year?

27. What phase was the moon in?

28. What constellations were present?

29. What did the place (and other characters) smell like?

30. How fluent are you in the language spoken where you story took place, and how did operating in a second (or 3rd, 4th, etc.) language influence what you interpreted from the events?

31. What memories or associations were triggered in your experience and how are these woven into the narrative?

32. What is the tense and why have you chosen it?

33. What is the POV and why have you chosen it?

34. Does your story answer the 5Ws (who what where when why) about the subject and narrator within the first few paragraphs?

35. Do you use words and expressions that are completely unlike how you’d speak in real life?

36. Is the story about something you that matters to you?

37. What local terminology did you learn for elements of the culture / land / people that are not translatable in English, and how have you presented them in the story?

38. Does your story contain dialogue?

39. Is the dialogue dynamic or “transactional”–in other words, does it contain an emotional exchange, reversal, argument, agreement, etc.–or is it static?

40. What is the subject of your story?

41. What is the subtext of your story?

42. Can you cut the first paragraph and start at the second?

43. Can you cut the last few paragraphs and find a stronger ending?

44. Are you forcing a conclusion on readers or allowing the space for different interpretations to emerge?

45. What role does texture play in your story?

46. What role does taste play in your story?

47. What was your motivation for writing the story?

48. What can you cut from the middle of the story and have it flow faster?

49. Could you rearrange the sequence of events so its not linear but some other chronology?

50. Did you include (or source) imagery for your story?

51. Are the images accompanied by captions?

52. Do the captions tell the editor more than what she or he can already grasp just by looking at the photos?

53. How did you approach people for information during your travels?

54. Were you invited back?

55. What were the political / cultural events / conversations taking place while you were traveling and how doe these figure into the story?

56. What was the quality of the light where you were, and how is this represented in your story?

57. What was the hardest part of writing this story and why?

58. What questions are still unanswered after writing this story?

59. What are you promising the reader (beginning with the editor) in your title?

Editor’s note: This lesson is excerpted from new and forthcoming curricula at MatadorU’s Travel Writing program.

The post 59 questions before sending your writing to an editor appeared first on Matador Network.

35 stunning photos of Costa Rica

COSTA RICA has staked its reputation on being a progressive pioneer when it comes to environmental conservation policy. A full 25% of its territory falls under national park status or some other designation of protection. Deforestation — a serious concern in a state that’s 50% forest — has been halted almost entirely. The legislature banned recreational hunting in 2012, and the government is aiming to become the world’s first carbon-neutral nation by 2021.

And Costa Ricans have plenty to protect. Their tiny country (around the size of two Vermonts) accounts for just 0.1% of the world’s land area, but is home to almost 5% of its biodiversity. From rare amphibians to monkeys to big cats to sea turtles and over 800 different bird species, Costa Rica’s fauna is as impressive as its volcanic, rainforest-covered landscape.

For the traveler, all of this adds up to pretty much the most spectacular ecotourism opportunities anywhere, as well as plenty of volunteer-based travel options. Below are some snapshots of what you can expect when you go.

This post is sponsored by Contiki, the world leaders in youth travel. Share where you feel closest to nature for a chance to win one of three spots on a Costa Rica Unplugged adventure. Enter the Storytellers: Costa Rica contest.

1

Storm at Playa Avellanas, Nicoya
Located on the thick arm of the Nicoya Peninsula, Avellanas lies about 10km south of Tamarindo and offers mellower waves than the more popular Playa Negra farther south.

Photo: Roman Königshofer





2

Volcán Arenal
Though nowhere near the tallest volcano in Costa Rica, Arenal is the most active, regularly putting on shows like this. It gives its name to the national park that surrounds it.

Photo: Scott Robinson





3

Sunrise on the beach
Costa Rica has over 750 miles of coastline on both the Pacific and Caribbean, which means a whole lot of beach.

Photo: Frontierofficial




See more: 35 surprising facts about sharks that might change your opinion of them




4

Green sea turtle
The green sea turtle (this one was photographed in Hawaii) is one of many endangered species that depends on Costa Rica for its survival. The Tortuguero Conservation Area is the single most important nesting site for the Atlantic subpopulation of green turtles, and serves as an epicenter for turtle conservation.

Photo: Roy Niswanger





5

Cruising the zipline
Many of the country's ecotourism zones feature ziplines, which sling visitors over rainforests and waterfalls. The highest concentration is in the La Fortuna/Arenal area.

Photo: Alex





6

Hammerhead at Cocos Island
Cocos sits 340 miles southwest of mainland Costa Rica (about halfway to the Galapagos) and is an uninhabited national park. If you manage to make it out here, you've probably done so for the diving—some of the best in the world.

Photo: Barry Peters





7

Arenal in cloud
The volcano's 5,350ft peak is often banked in clouds—which doesn't really detract from the view.

Photo: Scott Robinson





8

Green and black poison dart frog
One of Costa Rica's 133 species of frog, this specimen was photographed in the rainforests of the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, near the border with Panama.

Photo: Geoff Gallice





9

Llanos de Cortez Waterfall, Guanacaste
A quick detour off the Panamerican Highway in Guanacaste Province will take you to this waterfall and swimming hole, which has its own white-sand beach.

Photo: "Mike" Michael L. Baird, flickr.bairdphotos.com





Intermission





40 images of Peru we can’t stop looking at





50 images of New Zealand we can’t stop looking at





Amazing animal intelligence












10

Mango break
One of the many tropical fruit options at markets in the capital San Jose and around the country.

Photo: Everjean





11

Baby two-toed sloth
These arboreal mammals are native to Costa Rica. According to the photographer, this little guy is under the care of the Jaguar Rescue Center in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca.

Photo: Matt MacGillivray





12

Rolling hills
The mountains of Costa Rica run down the center of the country and are flanked by rolling green hills and farmland like this.

Photo: Ray Che





13

Pacific sunset
A mellow sundowner on the Pacific coast near Nuevo Colon, Guanacaste.

Photo: Melissa Roy





14

Vibrant butterfly
A large chunk of Costa Rica's biodiversity is made up by its 300,000+ species of insects, which include 1,250 butterfly species—10% of the world's total.

Photo: Frontierofficial





15

Catarata del Toro
Just north of San Jose, this waterfall plunges from a hole in the cliff face 300 feet to the bottom of an extinct volcanic crater.

Photo: Steve Jurvetson





Intermission





Kayaking with crocodiles in Costa Rica [VID]





Travel guide: Surfing and fishing Tamarindo, Costa Rica





30 images of Morocco we can’t stop looking at












16

Sunset over Manuel Antonio
On the central Pacific coast near Quepos, this is the sunset view from Buena Vista Villas & Casas, in Manuel Antonio National Park.

Photo: kansasphoto





17

Costa Rican breakfast
The star of the plate here is gallo pinto, or "spotted rooster," a rice-and-beans concoction that's a national dish of Costa Rica (also claimed by Nicaragua).

Photo: The LEAF Project





18

No mistaking it—this is the tropics
This view of Arenal and the surrounding tropical forest drives home the Jurassic Park-level of lushness of Costa Rican flora.

Photo: Arturo Sotillo





19

Volcán Poás
A good 3,000 feet taller than Arenal is Volcán Poás, another active volcano in central Costa Rica. It has erupted 39 times since 1828 and has dual crater lakes near the summit.

Photo: Apetitu





20

White-headed capuchin
This is one of four species of monkey native to Costa Rica and probably the easiest to spot. It can make its home in pretty much any type of tropical forest.

Photo: Gloria Manna





21

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
Near the town of the same name, in the Tilarán Mountains, this reserve protects a 26,000-acre tract of virgin rainforest consisting of six different eco zones and tremendous biodiversity.

Photo: Thomas Frost Jensen





22

Playa Herradura sunset
Another Pacific sunset, this one taken in Playa Herradura, one of the country's most popular tourist draws, located an hour west of San Jose.

Photo: Andrew Morrell





23

Hummingbird
Costa Rica is home to over 800 known species of birds. This hummingbird was photographed in Alajuela.

Photo: Jon Fife





24

Day's end
A vodka sundowner at a luxury resort in Manuel Antonio National Park, one of Costa Rica's smallest but also one of its most renowned, combining rainforest and beach landscapes.

Photo: sean hobson





25

Rio Agujitas at Drake Bay
The relatively short Agujitas River rises in the forested hills of the Osa Peninsula and empties into Drake Bay just north of Corcovado National Park.

Photo: Trish Hartmann





26

Monkey silhouettes
A pair of monkeys, mother and child, spotted at the luxury resort Hacienda Pinilla, on the Nicoya Peninsula.

Photo: Paul Kehrer





27

Irazú Volcano National Park
From the photographer: "This picture was taken during our road trip in Costa Rica, while visiting the Irazú Volcano National Park. From the top it is possible to see both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on a clear day. However, such clear days are very rare and it is typical for the volcano's summit to be covered in cloud for much of the time. Although we did not have the opportunity to observe the beautiful view from the top, these clouds created a very mysterious atmosphere and made the landscape very photogenic."

Photo: Céline Colin





28

Cocoa beans, raw ingredient of Costa Rican chocolate
Many small-scale chocolate producers operate in Costa Rica, offering tours of their working facilities.

Photo: Everjean





29

Laguna Verde, Volcán Irazú
Within one of the multiple craters at the summit of the volcano Irazú is this green lake, so colored on account of its chemical content.

Photo: Cristina Valencia





30

Surfing Costa Rica
People have been traveling to surf Costa Rica for decades—there are breaks to hit all along the Pacific coast, as well as a few on the Caribbean side.

Photo: Darren Johnson





31

Scarlet macaws
This distinctive parrot species can be seen in a few of Costa Rica's preserves. The pair shown above was photographed near Carara National Park.

Photo: Andrew Morrell





32

Arenal's halo
A close-up shot of clouds draping the peak of Arenal.

Photo: carol patterson





33

Rio Celeste Falls
One of the northernmost of Costa Rica's 26 national parks, Tenorio Volcano is home to the Rio Celeste and this waterfall.

Photo: Bruce Thomson





34

Rhinoceros beetle
Rhinoceros beetles can reach lengths of up to six inches and are found in multiple parks in Costa Rica. They are completely harmless—they can't bite or sting. They may, however, freak you out.

Photo: Lyn Gateley





35

View from Cerro Amigos
Cerro Amigos is the highest point (6,000ft) in the Monteverde reserve. On a clear day, you can see Arenal, the Pacific, and even across the border north to Nicaragua.

Photo: Dennis Tang



This post is sponsored by Contiki, the world leaders in youth travel. Share where you feel closest to nature for a chance to win one of three spots on a Costa Rica Unplugged adventure. Enter the Storytellers: Costa Rica contest.

The post 35 images of Costa Rica we can’t stop looking at appeared first on Matador Network.

Love lessons you learn in the desert

Photo: Meanest Indian

I first met Ali in the small marketplace outside of the Jaisalmer Fort. Hawkers sat on mats behind their vegetables waiting for business, while dogs rested in the shadows. Yellow sandstone buildings surrounded the market. Dust kicked up by dawdling cows and passing scooters hung in the air and gave the scene a surreal golden glow. The morning heat promised a sultry afternoon and carried the scent of chai tea, samosas, and animals.

A wide-eyed, smiling Indian man walked up to me. “Hello, sir,” he said. “I am Ali.” He leapt into his story. Ali, like many others in Jaisalmer, could not read or write, and needed me to send his girlfriend a text message.

“Say something nice!” he pled.

“Well, what exactly do you want me to say?”

“That I love her and that I wish she was here, and that she is beautiful.”

“How about just saying you miss her?”

“Tell her I want to marry her!” he beamed.

“That’s not very subtle.”

“Tell her I love her!” he yelled.

I did just that, abandoning any coyness I may have had were it my own relationship. I showered his beloved with clichéd compliments. Ali loved it; it was exactly what he wanted to say. And so it began — from then on I was his go-to guy. Every day he would invite me to drink chai and plot the courtship of his girlfriend by barraging her with adoring messages.

I was in Jaisalmer to volunteer with one of the popular camel safaris and escape the frenzy of ordinary India. My job was to help the business with their email correspondence, although I was quickly put to use in different matters. It seemed Ali wasn’t the only one in town in need of a love-letter scribe. Soon enough I was playing the same role for every man in the camel safari company. I was continuously asked to write emails to foreign girls who had passed through Jaisalmer before, to write these almost strangers “the desert man love letters” that came from their desert man hearts.

I first found the camel drivers’ obsession and fascination with any girl that crossed their path alarming. They needed little encouragement or often none to become fixated with a girl, the actual reality of a possible romance having no bearing on their fantasies.

One plays matters of the heart safe under the excuse that one is living a greater adventure.

It was in stark contrast to my own approach. To keep the dream of extensive travel alive, I tend not to pursue relationships, to choose the freedom and loneliness of solo travel over the fulfillment and complications of love affairs. One plays matters of the heart safe under the excuse that one is living a greater adventure, the life of a wanderer.

It was on the desert safaris that I found the peace and open spaces I came looking for. Our group of tourists and guides would bounce along on the camels, squinting our eyes through the glare, searching for foxes or vultures or any form of life. Trotting along in single file and unable to chat, my thoughts, all our thoughts, would fade into a desert-induced reverie. Finally we would arrive at the campsite, relieved to give our aching bodies a respite from the constant pounding of the camel riding.

After lazily exploring the dunes, we would settle down to watch the sunset. It was under the spell of one of the sunsets that I remembered a quote about the ocean: that the wonderful thing about the ocean is that it makes you think the thoughts you like to think. It’s the same for the desert, I thought, or mountains, or any form of grand nature. So far removed from the tensions of peopled places, we could revel in the setting of the sun in silence or quiet conversation. It seemed like we were revitalizing our frayed souls with every deep breath and still moment.

This reflective air would continue into the night with the appearance of every new star. The guides would chat and gossip nonstop around their cooking fire, their teasing and laughing the melody to the constant beat of the slap-slap-slap of the chapati making. The guests’ campfire conversation was typically philosophical, often moving onto classic traveler discussions about how the world ought to be.

One such chat turned into a questioning of my own lifestyle. While the guides washed our dinner plates with the desert sand, I answered a volley of questions. Why was I still traveling? What was my motivation? I muttered something about everyone having their own path, that there are many different paths to happiness and this one happened to be mine. I tried to explain the sense one has that life is incomplete and that this cannot be all there is, the inner conviction that there must be something better, fuller, and more satisfying elsewhere.

But the guests wanted to know: What was it, what was I searching for? I wasn’t so sure I could say exactly what it was. I think I understand what the French philosopher Andre Breton meant when he said, “All my life, my heart has yearned for a thing I cannot name.” Fighting off sleep that night, I stared up at a panorama of stars so encompassing and bright it felt as if I were a star myself, floating freely amongst them. I lay thinking about that very question. What was I searching for?

The camel drivers knew exactly what they were searching for — and not finding. As time went on, their love letters remained unanswered and they grew despondent. Ali told me his girlfriend had realized it wasn’t him sending the romantic messages to her. She had stopped replying to them. He was distraught and feared it was the end.

I thought about how the drivers went wild with lust and adoration, and I felt slightly vindicated by not being so girl-crazy. On the other hand, what if I had it backwards? What if this extended traveling had in fact been a subconscious search for the bliss and fulfillment of love? What if what I was avoiding was the very thing I was searching for?

After a few weeks in the desert, I felt refreshed…even restless. It was time to move on. I drank one last chai with Ali, still as animated as when I first met him but with a certain fresh sorrow about him from his failed relationship. Something turned in me when I saw that, a type of jealousy. Not for his pain, but for his passion. And with that thought, I left. On a midnight train to Delhi my journey continued. As always, I was alone but free, still in search of that something more my heart cannot name. [image error]

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How to snowboard the streets of NYC (like a boss)

THE FIRST SNOW in NYC is cute; the second one is annoying, but still charming. If it snows more than three times in one winter however, I’m ready to be anywhere else. It’s easy to hibernate in my apartment until it gets warmer, but leave it to filmmaker Casey Neistat to make even the dreariest of snow days especially epic.

Screw the mountains of Vermont – urban snowboarding is where it’s at! Just make sure you wear a helmet and, you know, avoid the cops.

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7 ways to be a spontaneous explorer

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.

- Lao Tzu

Greetings future explorer of the world! In this post we will be introducing you to Spontaneity and his mischievous cousin Serendipity. They have faithfully accompanied many great explorers throughout the ages, and we can guarantee that befriending these two on the road is bound to lead to unexpected wayward adventures and happy coincidences.

Inspired by guerrilla artist Keri Smith’s delightful book How To Be An Explorer of the World, and also some of the wonderfully creative ideas listed in the Lonely Planet Guide to Experimental Travel, we have compiled a short, illustrated field guide with seven ideas we hope will encourage you to succumb to your spontaneous urges, adopt a healthy caution against over-preparation, embrace serendipity, shed the heavy cloak of routine, chase down happenstance, and invite chance to be your chaperon.

1. Spin the globe.

The timeless ‘spin the globe’ technique is one of the best-known methods for inducing spontaneous travel and is wonderfully demonstrated by James McAvoy playing Dr. Nicholas Garrigan in the 2006 film The Last King of Scotland. Committing to travel to the first place your finger lands on takes a whole lot of ‘cojones,’ so for first timers we would recommend giving yourself three strikes — two practise spins if you will — before committing yourself to actually going to the country your finger lands on.

For added panache, we would suggest first pouring a glass of single malt whisky and spinning one of the rather fine hand-painted globes from the talented team at Bellerby & Co based in London, England.

2. Put your trust in a furry companion.

If you live in an urban area, either take your own dog or ask to borrow one from a friend. If, however, you’re living in Central Asia, perhaps you might consider commandeering a yak. In Western Africa? Try a camel. In the Australian bush? Jump on a kangaroo…you get the picture. Whichever your mammalian companion of choice, turn the tables and let it take you for a walk, you never know where you might end up!

3. Flip a coin and take a trip down memory lane.

This is one for the whole family, and perhaps your elderly neighbours too. Politely ask them to dig around for an old half-penny coin (or equivalent out-dated coin depending on your homeland), perhaps a vintage travel guide (such as one of these), and if you really want to commit yourself, a vintage bicycle or penny farthing from an antique store — complete with a set of retro trouser clips.

Once your intergenerational team has rounded itself up, set off down your local road at a moderate pace and at each junction take it in turns to flip your coin. Heads = go left. Tails = go right. Repeat this process for an afternoon, and along the way ask each other about memories from each place or junction — what did these places look like 10 or even 20 years ago? What has changed and what has remained the same? Enjoy the leisurely ride down memory lane.

4. Embark on a microadventure.

Surely you’ve heard of Al Humphrey’s microadventures by now? His premise is simple: You don’t need to fly to the other side of the planet to find wilderness and beauty — adventure is only a state of mind. Anyone can embark on a microadventure. Simply put the kettle on, pick up a map, and find somewhere rural you’ve never been to, despite it being close by.

After work, jump on a train or cycle there. Sleep under the stars on a hilltop, swim in a river, wake up in the sunshine. Return to your desk, a few twigs in your hair but happy to the core.

5. Seek points of confluence.

A point of confluence occurs at the integer-degree intersections where a line of latitude meets a line of longitude. There is a confluence within 49 miles (79km) of you if you’re on the surface of Earth, and there are 64,442 latitude and longitude degree intersections in the world (counting each pole as one intersection). Check out confluence.org to find out how many fall in your country.

These confluences are interesting because they represent the randomness that emerges from strict order. Seen another way, they are an open defiance of the order our culture imposes on us. As author Tim Vasquez says, “[Points of confluence are] curious places that embrace you in their history, character, and ecology, surrounded by people who are locals in every sense of the word.”

6. Up, up and away.

This idea was pioneered by the legendary Larry Walters, whose spontaneous misadventures inspired the Pixar classic UP. We do not advise that anyone actually attempt this at home, but Larry’s story is so spectacular we felt obliged to include it in this compendium. Larry was an American truck driver, who on July 2, 1982, took flight in a homemade airship named Inspiration I.

His beautiful “flying machine” consisted of an ordinary patio chair with 45 helium-filled weather balloons attached. It was reported that Inspiration I rose to an altitude of over 15,000 feet and floated from its takeoff spot in San Pedro, California, into controlled airspace near Los Angeles International Airport. Slightly safer alternatives to Larry’s method would include paragliding or attaching a GPS to a helium balloon and following it with your feet placed firmly on the ground.

7. Teach yourself to lucid dream.

Lucid dreaming is simply being conscious that you are dreaming. Tibetan Buddhists have practised dream yoga for centuries, and there’s a lot of literature behind the art and science of lucid dreaming — we found the simplest methods outlined in a post on the 4HWW blog. It requires a lot of practise to master lucid dreaming in the beginning, but once greater control has been developed, you can use your normal hours of REM sleep to visit anywhere in the world.

Quit your 9-5 job to fly over the Egyptian pyramids on the back of a giant eagle — check. Explore the depths of the ocean reefs without an oxygen tank — check. Base jump from Mt. Everest with Barack Obama — check. As with most things in life, the only limits are those imposed by your own imagination — have fun! [image error]

This post originally appeared over on the Maptia Blog; the team at Maptia have just launched their beautiful platform for telling stories about places.

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This man shouldn’t have survived his skydive. Watch how he did.

There might be a place that’s worse to be unconscious than thousands of feet up in mid-air while skydiving, but I’m really not sure where it is. Possibly sitting on a conveyor belt that’s moving towards a bandsaw? Regardless, the fact that unconsciousness is even a possibility is a pretty huge reason I never go skydiving (or sitting on bandsaw-tipped conveyor belts). 25-year-old British skydiver James Lee found this out the hard way, when he struck another diver, and was knocked unconscious thousands of feet up from the ground.

The entire thing was caught on his helmet cam.

Fortunately for him, two of the other skydivers noticed he had lost control, and upon realizing he was unresponsive, managed to reposition him and deploy his parachute. He then safely landed. The video has pretty much convinced me to never go skydiving, or possibly to only go skydiving with a couple of extremely competent, loyal, and ballsy friends. [image error]

[Feature photo: peasap]

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