A motorcycle trip through Spain’s slightly untouched backcountry

By Ian Middleton

The winds were blowing savagely against my body as I fought to stay on the bike and maintain some control over its movements. It was the beginning of January and normally this time of year most people choose to leave their bikes tucked away in a dry garage. Normally, I would be no different, but I had decided to take my Maxim 650 and head for Spain’s Mediterranean coast. I just hoped that I would make it there in one piece. With the weather the way it was, I was glad that I had been sensible enough to avoid going through France, and book passage on the ferry instead. It hadn’t cost much. For about £100, I bought a one-way ticket for a P&O ferry, that included bike carriage and a cabin, to Bilbao. All I had to do was get to Portsmouth. That was easier said than done.

The worst part of the journey was the crossing from the motorway into Portsmouth. There was a vicious cross wind that slowed me to 25 mph and blew my bike into a forty-five degree angle. But I made it, and got safely onboard the ship. In the terminal I had befriended another biker who happened to have the same name as me. He had bought a brand new Honda for a trip to Pau, Southern France. Ian told me that he had ridden from Manchester that day. I had, up until that moment, felt quite proud of myself for battling the forces of nature for a distance of fifty miles. But after hearing about Ian’s ride, I suddenly felt quite humble. (more…)

A trek into the Great Plains to hunt nature’s most elusive predator

By Jenna Blum

OH, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL EVENING it is in the Oklahoma Panhandle, five miles west of Guymon. The sunset blazes orange, cattle graze on yucca flowers, prairie grasses wave serenely toward the horizon.

At least, on one side of Highway 412.

On the other, a massive Supercell thunderstorm rotates low over the land.

Black and purple, with a bright green heart of softball-sized hail, the circular storm bears uncanny resemblance to an Independence Day spaceship. Vans, Doppler-radar trucks, and emergency vehicles zoom along its periphery like ants rimming a giant carousel.

On the storm’s underbelly, ragged clouds start twisting into a drill bit. Over the CB, on “chaser channel” 146.520 MhZ, meteorologist “Dr. Bob” Conzemius tells four vans of hopeful listeners, “It’s reorganizing.”

Sure enough, the drill bit elongates into a crooked finger pointing toward the ground. All along 412 breath is collectively held. If that snaky green funnel touches down, it’ll become the Great Plains’ most feared and destructive weather phenomenon: a tornado. (more…)

Though Chile is known for its laid-back attitude, it doesn’t take long for one to discover its vibrant culture.

By Matt Stabile

Let’s just say I was already feeling a little light-headed before I found myself thousands of feet in the air, looking out over the Andes Mountains. Buenos Aires is not exactly known as a sleeper-friendly city, and the last five days for me there were no exception. So by the time I got to the Airport for my 5:45 flight to Santiago, Chile — after only heading to bed a few hours before — my head already felt like I had been aloft for several hours.

I was initially going to spend my entire trip in Argentina, but after finding out that my friend’s brother was living and teaching English in Santiago, I decided that I might as well try to see as much as I could in the time I had in South America. There are plenty of daily flights between the two capitals but no discount airlines operating in either of those countries, so I booked a ticket through the large Chilean airliner LAN for US$250.

On a bus ride back from San Antonio de Areco to Buenos Aires I met a trio of girls from Colorado who’d been backpacking around the continent for the last three months. The girl sitting next to me began showing me pictures on her camera and we came across some incredible shots of the Andes from her flight to Argentina. I told her I was flying out the next day and she recommended getting a window seat to get the best view. So the next day on my early-morning flight when the stewardesses disappeared behind the first-class curtain before takeoff, I sneaked into an empty window seat in the bulkhead aisle and promptly leaned my head against the window and shut my eyes, avoiding any impression of impropriety. (more…)

Young travelers are flocking to Buenos Aires to experience its non-stop nightlife and vibrant culture, at a fraction of the cost of other cities

By Matt Stabile

Let’s face it, in the last year or so, travelers have been talking more and more about Argentina: the best place for nightlife, the best place to visit with a weak American dollar, the best place to see before it’s overrun with tourists. Not one for putting things off too long — and with winter just around the corner — I booked a flight to Buenos Aires to find out first-hand what all the talk was about.

Back in August, while exploring various sites, I came across an unbeatable deal — US$550 — on a flight to Buenos Aires from New York on American Airlines. (After taxes and various other fees that his particular web site tacked on, the fare came out closer to US$800, so instead I booked directly hrough American’s web site and nabbed a ticket for US$750.)

I landed in Buenos Aires on a Friday morning after an overnight flight nonstop out of JFK. I grabbed my suitcase, waded through the crowd of drivers gathered near the airport exit, and hopped into one of the yellow cabs waiting patiently on the street. About half the price of a car service, my ride in a slightly beat-up taxi cost about 75 pesos or US$25 (the exchange rate has been hovering around 3-to-1 for the last few years). (more…)

Discovering Brazil on a whim and three weeks to spare

By Andrew Porteous

My friend Tim and I had three weeks vacation available that we had to use before the end of year or lose them. Tim left the decision as to where we would be going up to me. So, on a whim, and after an hour spent with the travel agent, I called Tim up to give him the news.

“Brazil,” he said amazed. “Wow, what’s that going to be like?”

“No Clue,” I replied honestly.

It was the truth, I had no idea what Brazil was going to be like. The flights had been a special deal and I wanted to amaze Tim with a destination that would be a bit different from the norm. One week later we met each other at Heathrow. Tim was already dressed in shorts and t-shirt, despite the outside temperature barely above freezing. Twelve hours later we landed in Rio de Janeiro, and figuring we’d play things by ear, we booked into a hotel for two nights while we sorted out what exactly we were going to do in Brazil. (more…)

Finding Out How to Take a Vacation That Isn’t All About You

By Arianna Svenson

Sharp, swift, swooshes of a machete echo through the deep Amazon jungle as an overgrown path is cleared from ever-encroaching plants. Beads of perspiration roll rapidly down my face. Although I am a foreigner to this land, I pause with an accustomed ear to a series of bird trills. This is no three-day Amazon jungle tour where tourists fly in and out on the first and last days; this was the Picaflor Research Centre, an eco-friendly and simple complex deep in the Tambopata jungle, eight hours upriver from Puerto Maldonado by canoe, where I and a group of others were volunteering.

The Center was hand-built and designed by Dr. Laurel Hanna, a British Zoologist and her Peruvian husband Pico. While there we helped to clean trails, tended to the land to promote re-vegetation and oversaw the construction of a bird house intended for a unique type of Peruvian hen.

The Madre de Dios region of Peru is on the edge of the Amazon basin, and borders Bolivia and Brazil. Puerto Maldonado, the capital, is accessible by plane or by a tough three-day truck trip. Visitors to this remote region are encouraged to experience the jungle as volunteers rather than as
tourists. (more…)

An Insider’s Guide to the Real Sydney

By Stacey L. Kernaghan

One of the most visited capital cities in the world is Sydney, Australia, but beyond the traditional tourist “highlights” packages showcasing the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, lies a vastly diverse and oft-missed cavalcade of cultural, gastronomical and musical splendour which can be far more enriching than yet another snapshot in front of a world landmark.

ART

Australia is a nation with a blend of cultures and a unique sense of national identity that is particularly apparent in Sydney. It is difficult to walk down a street in the city without feeling this cultural infusion, and at places like the National Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Museum of Contemporary Art, this is almost palpable. Both museums house some of the most important pieces of art in Australian history as well as works from international masters such as Van Gogh and Picasso. If art isn’t your thing than perhaps the Powerhouse Museum will hold your attention. The Powerhouse is widely regarded by locals as a Sydney institution, housing a regularly rotating collection of exhibits. Past exhibits included the Kylie Minogue Collection (featuring items from the pop divas clothing collection) and the Paramount Star Trek Collection (featuring sets, costumes and props from the numerous Star Trek franchises). (more…)