I’ll admit that I thought this was a little crazy at first. However, once the giddy newness of watching someone find a new way to zoom down a mountain wears off, I began to see honest potential in those plastic shoes. Grass skiing could be as cool as downhill skateboarding, or the undeniably ballsy street luge.

Some of the videos I found on youtube are actually quite a testament to the possibilities of this nascent sport. People can get going pretty fast and still actually turn.

I’m glad to see the trend of moving cold weather sports into warmer seasons continues. Roller blading is undeniably cool. Street luge is fun to watch…mostly because of those occasional puffs of hay that signal a whipeout. Now, we can even watch grass skiing.

Now that we have established how cheap airfare has become (My God!), we can talk about how you can get some of that sweet sweet honey. Plane tickets are not like most other services. When the normal laws of economics get within range of the airline’s reason-distorting glare, they ball up in fear.

Here are three quick tips to help you navigate your next airfare purchase. After all, tickets are cheap (My God!).

1) Watch for deals

Here is where your flexibility and willingness to go anywhere that is both cool and not dangerous can save you some serious bank. Though airfare is “My God!” cheap, it isn’t cheap everywhere all the time.

For example check out this list of deals. Right now you can buy a round trip ticket from New York to London for $90 (My God!). See, I only know that because of that deal section. I also know that it is a little misleading because fees and taxes will add hundreds of dollars. However, it is still cheap.

2) Time your purchase right

Much like eating a peach, there is a fine art to biting into airfare at just the right time. If you do it too early you can end up with an overly crunch somewhat tasteless fare. However, if you are too patient and wait too long you will get a somewhat spoiled kind of revolting fare. The goal is to buy your ticket at just the right time. Right after the airlines start panicking about not selling enough tickets yet before the last minute buyers start panicking about not having tickets.

In all honesty, I am really bad at this art. In response, I often refer to the number-based farecast.com approach. They try to help you figure out the best time to buy. Luckily, they provide this service even if you don’t buy through them.

3) Consider the quirks of the airlines

In what sort of strange world is it cheaper to buy more? I’m not talking in a salesman-ese “cost per unit” sense either. I’m talking absolutely cheaper. Airlines.

Sometimes buying the round trip is cheaper than the one way, even if you only want to go one way. Unfortunately, airlines can also raise the price of tickets to certain cities if they see a rise in search traffic. Yup, this is what airlines can do to reasonable economics.

There are several of these quirks and paying any significant amount of attention to them is probably too paranoid. However, I swear I have seem airline prices go up hundreds of dollars when I search for a specific destination and date on several different sites. Plus, worrying about this matches my tinfoil hat perfectly.

Creative Commons picture by Chrispitality.

Imagine retracing the path of pepper across the earth.

Though pepper now huddles unpretentiously on the table, it has seen the world. It has felt the monsoons of India and the dusts of Egypt. It has shaken empires and to retrace it’s path through history would be a true adventure.

1) Goa, India

This trip could start on the south western coast of India, in black pepper’s native land. Here your bare feet could feel the cool sand in the blue light of dawn. You could wander the spice markets and smell the tangy symphony of every spice at once. You could see the monuments built by the many who conquered parts of this coast to control black pepper. Then you could fall asleep swinging inside a hammock in the sticky red afternoon, listening to the Arabian sea.

2) Alexandria, Egypt

The next stop should be Egypt. From here the roman empire’s fleet of 120 ships would annually depart for the coast of India to retrieve black pepper. In Alexandria you could hear the call to prayer echo through narrow streets. Your teeth could crunch through the warm outer layer of round Falafel balls. You could see the overwhelming scale of things ancient.

3) Venice, Italy

Next to the city of water and light. Through the ports of this city pepper would flow to the rest of Europe and wealth would flow back. Here you could stroll the massive farmers markets of a city without farms. You could float past parties in the moonlight and hear harmonic voices sing at sunset. You could feel a cacophony of church bells wash over the city.

Creative Commons picture by i_yudai.

4) Lisbon, Portugal

Finally this journey would go to Lisbon. Here you could stroll past the golden limestone facade of Jeronimos Monastery, built to honor Vasco de Gama’s courageous new route to India’s spices. You could stand under the vaulted ceilings of the powerful Belem Tower and peak past the canons to the blue Atlantic. In the calm of mid-afternoon you could relax under the gently fluttering greens and reds of a bougainvillea. Here you could discover the restrained zing of black pepper, waiting for you.

Budget travel may be the most exciting way to save money; After a two dollar bus ride up the Ganges you might find yourself dancing in the shimmering moonlight or facing a disgusting toilet in candle light. One dollar you spend next to the Mekong may buy you one of the best meals you have ever had or a night battling bed-bugs. For less money than it costs to buy strir-fry in the States you can spend a day on a Thai beach.

If you are interested, the following are the three basic steps.

1) Settle Your Accounts

Even when you are away there are bills to pay. From health insurance to monthly payments on your storage unit, money usually still needs to keep flowing back home. Some people convince a very trustworthy friend to keep an eye on things. I prefer to have things directly deducted from my checking account. Either way, make sure your health insurance payments are made on time.

2) Wander The World

South America and Southeast Asia are long-time favorites of the budget traveler. You may find a vibrant, colorful, delicious world…that happens to offer a very good exchange rate. But, no place is perfect for everyone. Plan to wander. Then linger in the places you really enjoy.

Creative Commons picture by judepics.

3) Learn

Learn how to speak Thai. Try your hand at organic farming. You could even do field research on sea turtles.

For pedestrians unaccustomed to crossing steady streams of traffic, this can be a little scary. You end up having to rely on the driver’s ability to miss you. Here are two methods for crossing the street in Rome:

Creative Commons picture by permanently scatterbrained.

The Advanced Method:

1) Make sure that there is enough room for the oncoming traffic to see you

On many roads, you will never be able to get enough room to make it all the way across. Enough space for the drivers to see, and react, to you is the best you will get.

2) Steadily and confidently walk across the road

Drivers seem to like pedestrians to walk at a somewhat constant speed. Because this allows the drivers to predict where the pedestrians will be, the traffic is able to flow around those crossing the road.

The Tourist Method (the one I usually follow):

1) Find an old lady who is carrying some groceries home. Stand next to her and do exactly what she does.

With this method you don’t have to judge when you have enough room. You don’t have to figure out what the ideal walking speed is. You don’t even have to remain calm when a moped suicidally passes the car that slowed down for you.

I’m sure you figured it out when I passed those large baggage compartments only to foolishly attempt to jam my bag into the tiny compartment over your head.

I understood the Italian train system about as well as a goat understands a watch.

While I was impressed by the amount of bravery you were able to displayed when I was barely able to prevent the bag from hitting you in the head, it probably would have been better if you had just motioned towards the larger compartments behind the seats. Eventually that old man helped us both by telling me about the other baggage area. I think he noticed the vein on my forehead.

It would also have helped if you had mentioned to the lady yelling at me that you were actually in my seat. It certainly would have explained why everyone was sitting one seat to the right of their reserved seat and why I was the unlucky person who ended up in her seat. Your response would have certainly been more eloquent than my “I really wish I knew better Italian” stare.

Creative Commons picture by ➨ Redvers.

For twenty minutes after that she, and the whole section of the train, talked about how idiotic I was for coming to Italy without knowing the language.

Oh, and you can tell that lady that asking me to proof read her English-language speech moments after mocking me for not knowing Italian is poor form. Even if I did fix her grammar and help her understand the word “to.”

Moments before the phrase “OK, this is good. Hand me the sled.” was uttered.

Creative Commons picture by nikan_gr.

Even if you start your journey by leaving the most dangerous place on the itinerary, knowing how to call for assistance in the local tongue can provide peace of mind. Perhaps there will be a police officer nearby. You could also just pull a Blanche Dubois and rely on the “tripping foot” of strangers. Very few crowds are friendly to pickpockets and muggers.

To help you feel a little bit more comfortable at your destination here are 16 translations for the term “Help, Thief” as provided by Google’s translation capabilities.

Danish

hjælp, tyv!

Czech

pomoc, zloděj!

Bulgarian

помогне, крадец!

Dutch

help, dief!

Finnish

apua, varkaan!

French

aider, voleur!

German

Hilfe, Dieb!

Greek

βοηθήσουν, κλέφτης!

Hindi

मदद , चोर !

Italian

aiuto, ladro!

Norwegian

hjelp, tyv!

Polish

pomocy, złodziej!

Portuguese

ajudar, ladrão!

Russian

Пожалуйста, вор!

Spanish

ayudar, ladrón!

Swedish

hjälp, tjuv!

Creative Commons picture by fabbio.

Creative Commons picture by CarbonNYC.
The majority of modern GPS devices are quite fancy. Their displays are big enough to let to you count the rays from Janet Jackson’s sunburst jewelry. They have databases that contain information about every major road on the continent. Some of them even have an internet connection so you can easily find the nearest waffle house next time you stroll through Tulsa. These $500 devices have a clearly defined niche right on your car’s dash. However, much like coral and tropical frogs if you take them very far out of their niche, they die. These devices can not survive long without a car’s steady supply of electricity.

On the other end of the GPS spectrum are devices designed for hikers. They are often about the size of a late ’90s cell phone and intended for use far from power outlets. Several are even waterproof, can last over 15 hours with only two AA batteries, and cost only 100 dollars. Unfortunately they bring with them a lot fewer creature comforts. The displays are often black and…kind of grayish. They are allergic to internet connections, and their maps are rarely very detailed and sometimes nonexistent.

If you would like some directional help outside of your car, the small, cheap, minimalist ones are better.

The Virtues and Costs of Minimalism

Pro

If you are willing to carry one around, these little devices can help you make it back to your hotel after dinner and point the way to that incredible, and hard to find, garden. It is hard to under-emphasize how useful it can be to know which direction you should be going. Knowing how long you need to be going in that direction can also help decide when the cab is worth it.

Con

That little arrow is another mouth to feed with you hard earned batteries. Rechargeable batteries can help, but then you need to…recharge them. It is an added hassle. Not to mention that you actually have to carry the thing. It was annoying enough when cell phones were actually that size, now you might be carrying your cell phone, your camera, and one of these.

As ironic as it is for a locating device, they can also be lost by their owners. You might one day find yourself looking for a device that mocks you by clearly displaying where it is. If you find it, it will tell you where to find it.

Creative Commons picture by swanksalot.

Verdict

Beats me.
Maybe it is worth the c-note and carrying around so that you can find the way back to your hotel at night. Maybe your internal sense of direction is pretty good already and it would just be extra weight.

On the plus side if anyone traveling with you asks “are we there yet” you can respond with a “look at the screen punk.”

As cool as that experience can be, bathing at the top of HUGE waterfalls is better.

Usually bathing at the top of a waterfall is a recipe for trouble. It can be hard to resist sliding off the cliff like the water around you. However, some waterfalls aren’t as pushy. They have a small sheltered area, a pool of relative tranquility, that will allow you to safely bathe in water that is about to free fall off a mountain. Just be really sure that such a pool exists before jumping in.

Creative Commons picture by mckaysavage.There is one such pool at the top of one of the biggest waterfalls in the world: Victoria Falls in Zambia/Zimbabwe. Non-suicidal people actually wade into water that is about to fall around 360ft (pictured above). The small safe patch of water at the top of the falls is called the devil’s swimming pool. I’m not sure, but the devil reference could be implying that it is terrifying to bathe inches from the precipice of Victoria Falls.

Bathing at the bottom of waterfalls one can feel the natural excitement and freshness of the water around them. However, when you bathe at the top of waterfalls you can also feel the earth shaking potential.