Photo courtesy Keven Lawver from Flikr
I used to think of travel insurance as something that I probably should have, but couldn’t really afford, and most definitely wouldn’t go through the trouble to buy. Visiting an insurance agent, filling out papers, and paying a bunch of money that could go towards beer and bungalows; who wants to bother?
Since 2005 National Geographic has held a contest to choose the most outstanding adventurer of the year. This year’s list includes people who have risen to the pinnacle all manner of extreme outdoors activities from trekking the length of the Amazon, to sailing across the Pacific Ocean in a prototype boat made of recycled plastic bottles, to smashing the world record for rowing across the north Atlantic.
Below are a few of my favorites. You can read all of the full profiles on NatGeo’s website.
Last month National Geographic listed the ten greatest discoveries of 2010. Among them are an earthquake that shortened our day, a glimpse of evolution in action with a lizard species in which some members still lay eggs, while others have made the jump to live birth, a study that says black holes are doorways to alternate realities (seriously), and, my favorite, a super cute pink fish that walks on it’s hands along the ocean floor.
Last month I read in the news that a team of scientists in China’s Hubei province were preparing to mount a search for the Yeti, or Bigfoot, in the Shennongjia Forest Region. One article said that the scientists were looking for foreigners to join the hunt. They wanted men “between 25 and 40 years old. With good physical health, they should also have a basic knowledge of biology and know how to use a camera”.
Tony Eitnier and Thomas Arnold, authors of the Contemporary Nomad travel blog, live quintessentially postmodern lives. Arnold, a German chemist, and Eitnier, an American language and communications trainer, started their travels as couple without a home. Because of the exclusionary marriage laws in their respective countries, neither was able to obtain a visa to live in the other’s home country. This pushed them into a nomadic lifestyle, and online entrepreneurship, both of which they have come to love.
