The NYT’s Matt Gross has a great article in today’s paper about currrent fashions and trends in Bangkok.
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Category: Misc.
Here’s an interesting twist on Western firms outsourcing jobs to India: British backpackers have started taking call center jobs there in order to save funds for traveling or extend their current trips.
Among the first to land in the subcontinent was Kenny Rooney, a 28-year-old from Livingston in Scotland. He had worked in a call centre at home, but after nine months in India says he does not want to return. “This is an incredible country,” he said, speaking from Bombay. “I have had a brilliant time and met people from all over the world…”
Young Britons of Indian origin are also finding the jobs offer them a chance to rediscover their roots. Among them is Hasmita Patel, who is also working in Pune. “This has been the best thing I’ve ever done,” said Ms Patel, from Leicester. “It has really allowed me to see the country and get to know people. I’ve learned so much about myself.”
(Via BoingBoing.)
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Catching Some Rays
AFP:
HONG KONG (AFP) — Airline Cathay Pacific has limited air crews’ flights on the non-stop Hong Kong-New York route after it was found the journey could increase the likelihood of cancer, a report said Sunday.
Staff of the British-owned, Hong Kong-based airline say they have been limited to just two of the ultra long-haul flights per month since it was found the route exposed passengers and crew to high levels of cosmic radiation when they flew over the North Pole.
Union chiefs told the South China Morning Post radiation levels increase markedly at 26,250 feet above the pole and prolonged exposure could be harmful to cell DNA possibly causing cancers.
(Via Kottke, who, incidentally, is currently traveling through Southeast Asia.)
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Do I Have Something On My Head?
A bizarre relationship between two very unlikely partners has left a few feathers ruffled in one Shropshire household.
The Ward family, from Shrewsbury, were baffled when two-year-old German shepherd Hazel and newborn burrowing owl Boobah struck up a firm friendship.
Hazel recently gave birth to two puppies and has now adopted the baby bird as one of her own.
Owners Stuart and Caroline Ward said the pair have become inseparable and the owl enjoys nothing better than to take a ride around the house on Hazel’s head.
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Gridskipper Post Numero Tres
In my latest Gridskipper post, I examine the rumored resurrection of venerated DC watering hole The Capitol Lounge, which burned down back in August. (Thankfully, the vintage Marion Barry campaign sign pictured above survived the blaze.)
Transitions Abroad has just published an article I wrote about how to readjust to life at home after living abroad.
In order to conquer what I’ve termed the “at-home blues” — feelings of restlessness encountered during extended time at home between trips — I suggest five tactics:
1. Start planning your next trip.
2. Surround yourself with international influences.
3. Seek out adventures close to home.
4. Draw on the skills that helped you adjust when you were abroad.
5. Be positive and don’t romanticize.
I was happy that long-term world travel guru Rolf Potts supplied a quote for the article.
The piece, which is posted in the Independent Travel section of the Transitions Abroad site, is my third contribution to the magazine. Earlier in the year I wrote about Teaching English in Ecuador and Taiwan. If you’re unfamiliar with Transitions Abroad, poke around their Web site or, better yet, consider subscribing to the print edition.
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$100 Laptop: Coming Next Year?
WSJ:
A novel plan to develop a $100 laptop computer for distribution to millions of schoolchildren in developing countries has caught the interest of governments and the attention of computer-industry heavyweights.
…
Although no contracts with governments have been signed, Mr. Negroponte says current plans call for producing five to ten million units beginning in late 2006 or early 2007, with tens of millions more a year later.
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Revisiting Ecuador — in Salisbury, Maryland
This weekend I went to see my friends Mike and Angelica — two pals from my Ecuador days. Mike and I taught English together (and traveled all over the country) while I was there between 2003 and 2004. He and Angelica got married after I left; they’ve got a delightful six-month-old daughter named Sabine and are living in Salisbury, Maryland now.
I had a great time catching up with them — I hadn’t seen Angelica in over two years; I also got to meet her nephew Diego, who’s staying with them for a while. (Both Angelica and Diego are from Cuenca, where we lived.) Angelica treated us to some excellent Ecuadorian food (including an exceptional seco de pollo), and we even broke out the dreaded sugar cane-based Ecuadorian firewater, Zhumir. And I got a chance to play my first-ever game of Frisbee disc golf.
It was fantastic to see them and relive the aspects of what I loved most about Ecuador and Ecuadorians: food, friends, and laughter. (And Zhumir, of course.)
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WaPo Story on Motorbiking in Vietnam
Today’s Washington Post travel section has a great article on motorbiking in Northern Vietnam — and doing so on fabled Minsk bikes, no less.
Dustin Roasa describes the two-week journey he took with his girlfriend; he does an excellent job of conveying both the cultural and historical details of the trip along with the unique sensations of this incredible part of the world.
Interestingly, Jill and I took nearly the same route last year; my buddy Chris and I also undertook a similar sojourn back in 2002.
(Chris has recently unearthed some pics from our trip, by the way, that are worth a look. I especially like this shot of a precarious “bridge” we navigated. I’m proud to say that I made it across the thing during what was the first full day I’d driven a motorcycle in my life; I was too young and dumb to know any better, I suppose…)
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Looking for a New Loveseat?
Then perhaps you’d be interested in these first class airplane seats. They’d look cool in your livingroom, perhaps, but at 1500 bones, the comfort-to-price ratio might be a bit skewed (which is not unlike actually flying in first class, if you ask me).