You can imagine how stoked I am that my name will be in the masthead of the next issue.

They’re going to list my name in the masthead because I’m now an AFAR Ambassador. That means that every month I sign into to AFAR’s website at upload a whole bunch of highlights (suggestions for things to do while traveling) and create a few wanderlists (curated lists of highlights).

Anyone can sign up for an account on the website and upload their own highlights and make lists, but not everyone will get to have the nifty title of ambassador next to their name (I don’t actually have it yet either, but they assure me that they put it there).

Sound cool?  I think so. Especially because, if I talk really quickly when I tell people “I work with AFAR Magazine as an ambassador on their website,” and they’re not really paying attention (which is normal) then all they’ll hear is “AFAR Magazine”, and they’ll just assume that I write for them.

Now, all I have to do find a way to trick AFAR’s editors into believing that I write for them.

Below are some links so you can see what I’ve been up to over there. Check them out. Don’t forget to like my highlights and follow my profile so that they don’t regret making me an ambassador

Here’s my profile.

Here are my highlights.

Here are my wanderlists.

The post Keep an Eye Out for Me in AFAR Magazine appeared first on XpatMatt.

In parts the narration sounds a bit over-the-top to me, but it ultimately offers some insight into why extreme athletes put themselves into dangerous situations over and over again, which, in a media environment filled with idolatry and uncritical praise for achievement, is both refreshing and needed.

What do you think?

Lead photo is NOT Steve House, and is by schoeband

The post Shattered: The Mind of a Driven Climber appeared first on XpatMatt.

The moai are made from enormous slabs of rock weighing up to up to 82 tons (one unfinished statue was found that, completed, would have weighed about 270 tons) and nobody has been able provide a decent theory as to how the Rapanui may have transported them…until now.

An article in July’s National Geographic examines the issue.

There are several theories about how the Rapanui — with no means except for trees and rope —  transported the enormous statues. In his book Collapse, Jared Diamond suggested that the statues were basically pulled across logs on ropes by a lot of really hard working guys. Not the kind of creative analysis one would hope for from a Pulitzer Prize winner.

Archaeologists Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo have a more interesting theory. Local oral histories mention people summoning divine power to make the statues walk. Hunt and Lipo argue that the statues could be stood upright and ‘walked’ by three teams of people with ropes, and that this method would require far less effort than the methods proposed by others.

The bottoms of the moai are D-shaped, causing them to naturally fall forwards. So, two teams stationed on either side of a statue could pull ropes tied high on the head of a moai to rock it back and forth as it naturally falls forward, thus making it walk, while one team holds it upright from behind.

Here is a video of a demonstration using a replica. Amazing.

Lead photo by iko

The post Easter Island Statues ‘Walked’ Claim Scientists (Video) appeared first on XpatMatt.

Considering the time of day and severity of the avalanche, it’s a miracle that only one person was badly hurt. The only person on the trail, which will have more than 50 hikers on it at at certain times of day, was Nima Sherpa, a Nepalese cook who was swept into crevasse.

Immediately after the avalanche a head count of all Everest teams was done, which required communication in five languages. It was determined that the man was missing, and all Everest teams pitched in to search for him. He was found in the crevasse, was hoisted out, and was evacuated by helicopter. Nima Sherpa had three broken ribs, two broken vertebrae, and had almost bitten right through his tongue.

That sounds pretty awful, but given that this avalanche could have potentially killed dozens, the climbers on Everest are counting their blessings.

The post Massive Avalanche Near Everest Camps appeared first on XpatMatt.

I watched this video about 9 times this morning.  Pure inspiration.

Later I’m going to write a haiku for Backcountry Magazine and win $500.

Endurance biker Sonya Looney explains why she isn’t afraid of the dark.

Planning for the the Grand to Grand–which will probably be the biggest ultra marathon in the US this year–got underway.

The Wend Magazine blog discusses the visual impact of the discarded plastic bags on the Patagonian landscape, and illustrates it with this photo.

The book Lorax got pissed at the movie Lorax in verse.

The Gear Junkie found out how this unique explorer Swiss Army Knife was conceived.

Last week I ran my first 40-minute 10k (or 6mi), so I thought I’d read up up on how to survive my first hundred-mile run.

Outside Magazine offers a haunting story about an Iraq vet who disappeared into the Montana bush and launched a dedicated page for Mount Everest coverage.

The Clymb is selling men’s coats and shoes for 50% off or more.

Brendan Leonard explains the rules for dirtbag dating.

Sazzi is trying to sell flip-flops with barefoot-looking soles for $80.

The post Links of the Week: April 8 – 15 appeared first on XpatMatt.

Tripbase recently started a project that has spread throughout the travel blogosphere. They asked a few bloggers to summarize seven categories of old blog posts, highlighting some of their most interesting content. Then, each blogger then nominates five more bloggers to do the same.

Thanks to Suzy Guese for the nomination! Here are my seven posts.

Most beautiful post: Ghosts and Angels on the Beautiful Island

By far one of the most personal stories that I’ve written on my blog, this post tells the story of a friend of mine in Taiwan who died and describes the haunted beauty of both the Taiwanese countryside and religion. The story, however, is ultimately about the incredible kindness that our Taiwanese friends displayed in the wake of the tragedy.

Most successful post: Professional Travel Tips

This was actually a list of tips that my aunt, a travel agent and veteran traveller, sent me before I went to Borneo. It became popular on StumbleUpon and has since brought more traffic to my blog than any other post. It think its popularity is related to tip #8, which suggests that you “buy really, really large ladies underwear (not the bikini type) and soil them with dirt or coffee and put them on top of your clothes” to deter people from looking through your bags.

Most controversial post: My Experience During the Vancouver Canucks Riot (on the Huffington Post)

I happened to be in Vancouver after attending TBEX ’11 for the riots after the Canucks lost game seven of the Stanley Cup finals. When they began I headed straight into them with my camera. This first-person narrative was one of the most popular pieces written about the riot on the Huffington Post and drew hundreds of comments in the first three days, many discussing the ethics of my presence at the riot, the legitimacy of blogging as journalism, and whether journalists should remain passive observers when they have the ability to intervene in unjust actions.

Most helpful post: How Can I Find  a Writing Job in Taiwan?

Everyone knows that you can get a job teaching English in Taiwan, but many aspiring writers are not aware that it is also a good place to search for your first writing job as there is less competition and less experience is required, compared to most English-speaking countries. This post outlines the main types of writing employment available and where and how to find it.

A post whose success surprised us: Adventures in Malaysian Borneo Part 1: Driving at Night with No Lights

This was a post that I wrote quickly, mainly for my friends who wanted to hear about my trip to Borneo and find out what kind of trouble I got myself into. My friends thought it was dramatic and funny and began sharing. Then everyone began sharing it. It’s definitely most popular narrative I’ve written, which surprised me because I put very little effort into it.

A post that didn’t get the attention it deserved: Four Questions For Rolf Potts

What can I say? It’s four questions with one of the most famous successful living travel writers in which we discuss Kerouac, Vonnegut, writing style, and the international drug scene–things I’ve never seen him write about elsewhere.  I thought it was a gem of an interview. Traffic to the page, however, indicates otherwise.

The post that made you the most proud: Kootenay Ski Culture

There are many posts that I’m very proud of (There’s Treasure Everywhere and Change were also contenders for this spot), but this is the most recent. I wrote it shortly after returning to Canada for my first extended visit in six years. I’m proud of it because I proved to myself that I was able to write a piece about my own culture as interesting as those I write about others. It also brought me the best-paying assignment of my career. Shortly after writing it, I sent this post to Kootenay Mountain Culture magazine because I thought they’d get a laugh out of it. I guess that they did, because they wrote back asking me to write the feature for their next issue.

Nominations

Here some bloggers to whom I’d like to pass on seven questions nominations:

Lorna of The Romantics

Carrie of My Several Worlds

Jeannie of Nomadic Chick

Richard of Lief in Taiwan

Unfortunately, those are the only bloggers that I know who haven’t already done this, so I have two nominations left. So, if you are a blogger and would like an invite, please just comment below and I’ll send you one.

The post The Seven Links Project: Seven of my Favorite Blog Posts appeared first on XpatMatt.

Random.org

I’m pleased to announce the winner of the first-ever contest on Matt-Gibson.org: Christine Medina.

Congratulations Christina! I will have the folks over at Planet Gear send out the book right away.

M.

The post The Winner of Matt-Gibson.org and PlanetGear.com’s Lonely Planet Photography Guide Giveaway appeared first on XpatMatt.

I want to apologize to anyone that feels that they were mislead about the vouchers. The representative from Wimdu.com who gave me the vouchers did not tell me that they had an expiry date.

I sent an email to the representative from Wimdu.com. In the email I asked him if it is possible to reactivate the vouchers, and said that this kind of nasty surprise is likely to deter future users from his website rather than attract them. I haven’t heard back.

So, I would suggest that everyone who has a voucher contact Wimdu.com and complain and, hopefully we can have the vouchers reactivated.

You can contact them here: http://www.wimdu.com/contact_requests/new

I would like to apologize again for this. I will try to be more careful in the future with the goods that I accept from sponsors.

~ Matt

The post Bad News About My Wimdu.com Vouchers appeared first on XpatMatt.

You may also want to:

See more pictures in my Flickr photostream.

Read my first-hand account of the riot on the Huffington Post.

[nggallery id=37]

Update!

See the girl in orange smash a cop car with a piece of wood and then light it on fire in this video. That starts at 6:57. She has already been identified numerous times in the comments on the video (and the title of it).

I’m also in the video a few time around 4:48, 6:03, 6:15, and 6:32, but just for a few seconds each time.

The post 16 Photos of the Vancouver Canucks Riots appeared first on XpatMatt.

One week ago, on May 11^th, a team of five climbers and two guides began their final ascent to summit Denali (also known as Mt. McKinley) in Alaska, which, at 6194m, is the tallest mountain in North America. When they left camp they had about 1000m left to climb and the weather looked “perfect”.

The forecast, however, called for wind and one team member opted to stay in camp. The remaining six began their ascent of the West Buttress.  After ascending about 300 m to the area near Denali Pass, team member Tony Diskin decided to turn back because of frostbite on his hands. He returned to the camp with assistant guide Henry Munter. The three then descended from high camp to the next camp down, located around 4300 m.

The remaining three climbers, Jeremiah O’Sullivan, Beat Nierder, and Lawrence Cutler, went on to summit Denali with their guide Dave Staeheli. About 200 m below the summit, near “Pig Hill”, O’Sullivan tripped pulling the entire team, which was roped together, down 300 feet of glacial ice. O’Sullivan broke his leg, Staeheli broke a rib, and Niederer dislocated his shoulder. Cutler came away from it relatively unhurt.

They tried to radio for help, but could not get a clear signal. They tried to use their satellite phone, but the antenna was broken. Staheli sent Nierder and Cutler down the mountain to find a spot with better reception while he stabilized O’Sullivan and tried to drag him down the mountain in a bivy sack. After several hundred feet he gave up. It was too difficult.

At this point the weather was still fair, so Staeheli decided to leave O’Sullivan and take Cutler and Niederer to camp in hopes that he could organize a rescue there. At around 5600m near a place called “Zebra Rocks” Niederer became separated from the group. By this time the temperature had dropped to -28 degrees Celsius and winds were blowing up to 48 km/hr.  Staheli gave Cutler directions on how to get back to camp and went off by himself.

After Staheli reached camp, wind speeds increased to over 90 km/hr. Despite this, Cutler still managed to find his way.  At the camp the two men met another team of climbers who had summited the mountain earlier in the day.

The next day winds prevented a helicopter from reaching O’Sullivan until 5 p.m., nearly 21 hours after the accident. He was airlifted to base camp, and then to a hospital in Anchorage.

Unfortunately, Niederer was found dead at around 5500m. The cause of death is not yet clear.

The post Climber Dies After Accident on Denali (Mt. McKinely) appeared first on XpatMatt.