The Marathon Crash Race – A Unique Los Angeles Experience

What To See / Do
Bikers line up for the Los Angeles Marathon Crash Race

It is 3:30 AM on a chilly Sunday morning and I am preparing to do something illegal through the streets of Los Angeles. It is the morning of the LA Marathon and I have already spent the last 90 minutes riding from Santa Monica to Tang’s Donuts in Hollywood, the meeting spot for this illegal [...]

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The Perfect Camera Travel Bag – The Lowepro Fastpack 350

Travel Gear
The two bags I carried around the world.

What better way to start off my new gear section of the blog than with a review on my favorite piece of travel gear? I love my camera and laptop dearly. They were the items I knew I’d need to protect most during my trip.  Lowepro’s Fastpack 350 is a camera bag, laptop bag and [...]

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Hitchhiking, Hot Tubbing and Hobnobbing at TBEX

Featured
Hitchhiking to TBEX - Photo by Matt Karsten

I spent this past weekend at TBEX 2012, a conference catering to travel bloggers, and let me tell you, it didn’t turn out at all like I expected.  I made some fast friends and reunited with some old ones, learned more than I knew but less than I expected, and networked with travel industry representatives [...]

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First Timer’s Guide For A Quick Trip to San Diego

Featured
Surfers sit on the beach in San Diego.

The best possible trip you can take to get away from Los Angeles is a quick two-two hour drive south to San Diego.  Ideal weather, terrific beaches, interesting neighborhoods and activities that cater to adults as well as families make it a great place to visit to get away from of the big city craziness [...]

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Travel Photo Roulette Round #44: “Once In A Lifetime”

Featured
The Shark Dive at the Great Barrier Reef

I am happy to announce I get to host the Travel Photo Roulette contest once again.  I previously won round #3 and hosted round #4 about 18 months ago and won the recent round #43 with the image taken above for the “adventure” theme hosted by Matt Gibson.  If you don’t know what Travel Photo [...]

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SPOTLIGHT: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Spotlight:
At the top of Sandia Peak after riding the tramway to the top.

Nestled along the Rio Grande and a main stop on any road trip along Route 66, Albuquerque’s highlights include a wealth of Native American culture and a variety of outdoor activities and destinations.  Take some time to shop in Old Town, have a beer at sunset on a roof top bar or ride one of [...]

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Photo Essay – SXSW Music

Photo Essays
Titus Andronicus at The Belmont

A selection of images from the Music portion of the 2012 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

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Photo Essay – SXSW Interactive & Film

Photo Essays
An impromptu dance party breaks out in the rain after the SXSW premiere of

I just finished volunteering for my first year at the SXSW (South by SouthWest) Festival in Austin, Texas. The festival is a mixture of Film, Music and Interactive (think tech/business/internet), with the first half focusing on interactive, the second half on music, and film running the entire length of the nine-day conference. As a volunteer, [...]

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Photo Essay – Austin Kite Festival at Zilker Park

Photo Essays
The winner of the Youngest Contestant Award at the festival.

The 84th Annual Zilker Park Kite Festival was held on Sunday, March 4th in Austin, Texas. You couldn’t have asked for a better day with all the sun and wind anyone could ask for. Under an umbrella of thousands of kites, the festival offered the usual American-festival goodies like games and face-painting for the little [...]

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Photo Essay – Mardi Gras Parades in New Orleans

Photo Essays
Masked Revelers

Contrary to popular belief, Mardi Gras isn’t just about Beer, Beads and Breasts. The festival and parades were actually described to us by one locals as being put on “for the locals, not for the tourists”. A family affair, outside of Bourbon street you’ll see festival revelers of all ages, and even a few local [...]

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The Indie Travel Manifesto Gets it Right

Responses & Rants
Photo by Fernando Stankuns on Flickr

A new site just hit the web and I think everyone should go check it out.  The Indie Travel Manifesto, a collaboration between one of my favorite travel authors, Rolf Potts, and the Boots-n-all travel network, attempts to define Independent travel and create a community for those that relate to it. Here’s the video they [...]

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How to Handle Illness When Traveling Abroad

How To:
Pills scattered across a table

I had grand plans at the start of this new year – weekly blogging, 365 days of photos and more.  Of course, I only made it a few days into January before becoming really really sick.  A week of headaches led into three weeks of fatigue and a hacking cough that is only now fading [...]

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