Tiger Tracking

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:05:49 +0700

Team Wanderlust photo essay

Nepal - Long before Steve Erwin or Animal Planet there was the classic animal TV show, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. This old-school program, hosted by the legendary Marlin Perkins, got me forever hooked on wild animals and adventure travel. One of my favorite childhood memories was watching this show late Saturday mornings after all the cartoons had finished. I’d sit in front of the boob-tube with a big bowl of Corn Pops drenched in chocolate milk, and watch in amazement as a 60-year old Marlin Perkins would lasso on horseback then wrestle to submission a 20-foot anaconda in the middle of a crocodile infested raging Amazon river! Ol' Marlin was clearly insane and I loved him for it. Unfortunately, I haven't had any crazy animal encounters like Marlin Perkins or Steve Erwin, but tracking wild tigers in the jungles of Nepal comes kinda close.

Tigers are bad-ass. They’re my favorite animal. But they’re shy solitary creatures, so to run into one in the wild is rare. They were in the area because of the fresh tracks we found by the riverbank, but unfortunately we didn't get to spot any this expedition. We did get to see lot’s of crazy monkeys, colorful birds, alien bugs, rare crocodiles, and wild rhinos. Yes, rhinos! Our guide knew they were near because of all the fresh poop they left behind. So, mounted on our expedition elephants we trekked deep into the jungle in search of these beautiful creatures. Amazingly we didn’t find just one, but a small herd with a mother and calf! Like all moms, rhino moms are very protective of their young. They will charge with no warning, so Izzy was glad we ran into them from the safety of our sturdy elephants. Rhinos have bad eyesight and charge in a straight line, so if you are attacked you’re supposed to evade them by running in zig-zag formation. Easier said then done when you have the one-ton beast trying to mowing you down! Luckily, we didn’t have to evade any rhinos that day. (But that would’ve been one helluva story!)

A Favorite Quote

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:14:44 +0700

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States of America

TEDx Bangkok

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:11:01 +0700

I had an amazing weekend at TEDx Bangkok, the first TED event held in the beautiful kingdom of Thailand. It was such a privilege to listen to our amazing group of speakers from from all around the world. They all contributed to opening/blowing my mind this weekend. And for that I’ll always be grateful. My personal favorites were Daniela Ruby Papi, Colin Gallagher, Zoltan Radnai, Brooke Estin, and Bruce Poon Tip. I really enjoyed the unique musical performance by Ronley Teper, too. It was also an honor being a part of the TEDx committee. On the day of the event we were all running on very little sleep, but were fueled by the energy and excitement that is TED.

On a personal note, TEDx Bangkok gave me the opportunity to finally meet one of my heroes, Bruce Poon Tip of Gap Adventures. Bruce is a truly extraordinary person who’s done a lot of good for the global community. He’s been a big influence in my life and is one of the main reasons why I’ve adventured this great big world of ours. I was really happy I got to tell him this in person. And I especially enjoyed our one-to-one conversations on the long taxi rides back to Bangkok. Great laughs, stories and insights.

A funny thing that kept happening at TEDx was people mistaking us for each other! We’d have a laugh telling each other stories of people chatting us up forever, only to realize that the entire time that person actually thought I was Bruce or Bruce was me. It was hilarious! Hahaha! Awesome. Thanks for being such an inspiration in my life, Bruce. I can honestly say that one of my heroes has now become one of my friends. For those about to rock, we salute you.

Photos: Aloha Lavina and John Berns

5 iPhone Apps I Love

Sun, 7 Feb 2010 07:28:36 +0700

Things
I love the clean and simple design of this to-do app. It’s increased my productivity a thousandfold. Without it, I’d seriously forget to do half the shit I have to do (i.e. put on pants).

Banner
Perfect for ordering a drink from across the room in a really loud bar (or for dumping that special someone from a safe ‘out of kicking range to the balls’ distance).

Classics
I never would’ve read so many classic books of literature had I not had this app. Beautiful interface loaded with my all-time favorites, The Art of War, Call of the Wild, The Jungle Book and more. It’s free, too!

WordBook
The best dirt cheap dictionary/thesaurus app out there. I love the ‘Words of the Day’ feature. Makes me feel smart learning new stuff. (Example: I didn’t know ‘Sex on the Beach’ was a drink. I thought it was a verb!)

Tweetie
I like to tweet on the go and brag to the world how much cooler my life is then yours.

Fruit Basket Baby

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:45:00 +0700

Thailand - A cute chubby little Thai baby I spotted hanging out in a fruit basket at the Asoke market near my place in Bangkok. I like this kid’s attitude.

2010 New Year’s Resolutions

Mon, 4 Jan 2010 06:48:18 +0700

New Year’s Resolutions are lame. Why wait ‘til the end of the year to let yourself down with broken promises? I prefer to spread it out and disappoint myself multiple times throughout the year, instead. On that note, I give to you (in no particular order) my top ten resolutions for 2010...

1. Improve my non-existent French. (I lived in Montréal for 13 years. I should speak French fluently by now! J’ai tellement honte.)

1. Travel more. (Expedition to Antarctica, perhaps? Hhmmm...)

1. Write and record more music. (Enough posing in the mirror with my guitar, lips pursed and shirtless in pajamas doing rockstar kicks. Time to lay down some tracks, yo!)

1. Do another adventure race. (Marathons: bo-ring! I prefer to jump off cliffs, swing from vines, wrestle wild baboons and nearly drown to death in leech-infested rivers.)

1. Write and shoot a video podcast.

1. Check myself into fried food rehab. (Fried chicken to me is what black tar heroin was to Kurt Cobain.)

1. More: rockclimbing, sketching, surfing, MMA, diving, reading, fried chicken.

1. Make an iPhone app or two.

1. Listen to more new music. (There’s only so many times I can cry myself to sleep at night to “Stairway To Heaven”.)

Dear Diary: entry #238

Sun, 3 Jan 2010 00:38:15 +0700

Bangkok, 2:47PM, New Years Day. Situation: from bad to worse. Brushing my teeth, look into the mirror, see another pair of limp clown shoes sticking out from under the shower curtain. Want to poke but scared. (double shiver)

Dear Diary: entry #237

Sat, 2 Jan 2010 00:28:18 +0700

Bangkok, 2:44PM, New Years Day. Spoke too soon. May not have woke up with a dead circus clown in my bed, but I see giant clown shoes sticking out of my closet. They’re limp. (shiver)

Dear Diary: entry #236

Fri, 1 Jan 2010 16:29:46 +0700

Bangkok, 2:43PM, New Years Day. Just woke up. Relieved. No dead circus clown in my bed, again. (whew) 2010 already lookin’ good! Happy New Year, world.

A Calcutta Christmas

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:01:03 +0700

Team Wanderlust photo essay

Last year we spent Christmas in Calcutta, India. We were supposed to spend it on a riverboat in the Ganges searching for wild tigers in the Sunderbans of West Bengal. But sadly all the expeditions were booked until well after the new year. Plan B. If we couldn’t make it to the Sunderbans we thought we’d spend Christmas at the Simlipal National Park, surrounded by beautiful waterfalls, rolling green hills and forests filled with tigers, elephants and monkeys. But this time all the trains were booked! The gods of travel were frowning upon our Christmas plans. All trains and excursions throughout India were booked solid for the holidays. Being a predominately Hindu nation, I was surprised to find that Indians celebrate the holidays much like we do in the West. We wanted to get the hell outta the city and back into nature for the holidays, but it wasn’t gonna to happen. So we made the best of it in Calcutta. Instead of a turkey dinner, we had a three-piece chicken dinner at KFC. “Garçon! Super-size that combo and throw in some extra gravy. It’s Santa’s birthday, dammit!”. Classic.

Calcutta is actually a very nice, modern city. Admittedly, I was bracing myself for the worst when we got there. But to my surprise (and relief) it was nothing like the dirt-hole the media portrays it to be. It still had it’s share of persistent beggars, crusty street dogs, shady street hustlers, claustrophobic over-population and snot-blackening pollution, but what Asian city doesn’t!? The city itself was sprinkled with beautiful colonial architecture from the days of the Raj, and the people of Calcutta were very kind and helpful to us. The lesson Calcutta taught me was not to put too much weight in what others tell you. Experience life for yourself and form your own opinion. Believe in your own experience. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Dear Diary: entry #64

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 16:36:41 +0700

I wish I was a rockstar. That way I could wear sunglasses anytime, anywhere. Even while frying bacon naked. Oh, wait. I already do that.

Dagger Hagglin’

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:43:48 +0700

Team Wanderlust photo essay

Tibet - While exploring the rough and rugged Tibetan Plateau, I'd spotted this yak nomad with a cool looking dagger on his belt. I wanted it, badly. I’d read that nomads loved to haggle, so I approached him to bargain for it. Only problem was he didn't speak English and I didn't speak Tibetan. No problem. Money has never needed words, only numbers. So we ended up haggling for it by scribbling our prices down in the dirt. He'd trace his overly-priced number on the ground, then I'd counter it with my own ridiculously-low price. We, along with the big group of nomads that crowded around us, would then burst into laughter at each other’s crazy bids. It was hilarious! This went back and forth for what seemed an eternity. But we were loving every minute of it. In the end I got my dagger, he got his money, and we all had a great laugh while doing so. We also got to experience a bit of each other's culture. It was amazing. This is what traveling is all about. (P.S. When I unsheathed the dagger, it still had dried yak blood all over it! How cool is that!? That much more authentic. Love it.)