As everyone knows, the GoNOMAD staff is a peregrinatious group that logs thousands of miles every year to search out the most interesting and funnest destinations in the world.
Kent St. John hugs a koala bear in
Queensland, Australia.
Senior Travel Editor Kent St. John, for example, went to Australia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Germany, Italy, China, Greece, Alberta, Chile, Argentina, China again, Lithuania, Latvia, Papua New Guinea, then Argentina and Chile again. Editor Max Hartshorne went to Mexico, Alabama, Texas, France, New Jersey, Martha's Vineyard, Chile and New Zealand.
Staff Writer Sony Stark went to Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Washington, D.C., Tunisia, the Yukon Territory, and back to Tunisia. Paul Shoul went to Tunisia, Brazil, France, and back to Brazil. Even Associate Editor Stephen Hartshorne, who hardly ever leaves New England, took a trip to the Texas Gulf Coast and attended Orbitz' First Annual Blogger Day in Chicago.
We all had a great time, of course, but these peregrinations also keep us attuned to the issues that affect travelers so we can continue to publish a first-rate travel website.
We're also getting set to exhibit at the Boston Globe Travel Show February 19-21 and the New York Times Travel Show, February 26-28. See you there!
And of course we've brought you lots of great stories from our contributors, everything from Dead Goat Polo in Kyrgyzstan to a lap around the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
All in all it's just another month of top-notch travel writing on GoNOMAD.
New stories recently published on GoNOMAD:
Where We Went: GoNOMAD Staff Travels in 2009
A travel website needs to be edited and written by real travelers. Sometimes I wonder when I read glossy magazines about whether those editors really go anywhere, or do they sit in their big offices and look at stories about other people's travels? Not us! GoNOMAD's staff had a busy traveling year, and below we chronicle our various destinations that we visited and wrote about during the past year...
Dead Goat Polo: National Sport of Kyrgyzstan Dead Goat Polo may not be the most charming name for a sport, but it certainly does what it says on the tin. Raiding and kidnapping the neighbouring village may no longer be as acceptable as it once was (though bride-napping remains in vogue), but in its place the Kyrgyz have a surrogate pastime that offers the same outlet for aggression and a similar showcase for horsemanship.
Deep in the Jungles of Papua New Guinea
The fog lifted slowly on our first early morning departure. Out of the mist a dugout silently approached. Standing in it was a man bare-chested; below him sat two children.
The bow of the dugout was carved into the face of a crocodile. Indeed, our guide informed us, salt-water crocs were local residents. The croc carvings were perhaps the one thing that the villages had in common. In PNG there are more than 800 different languages spoken...
Nelson, New Zealand: A Crafty, Artsy Coastal Community You can tell Nelson’s a serious arts town when you glance at their Art Directory… it’s one-inch thick, and full of listings for all of the various artists in the small city. From ceramics to jewelry to film and performance, Nelson is home to artists of every description. Located at the very north of New Zealand's South Island, it's a compact city that is easy to navigate with about 42,000 residents, and many free spirits.
Moscow: Warming Up After the Cold War
With a Tony Soprano meets Boris Yeltsin reputation, we were not sure what to expect after arriving in this legendary capital. With six-dollar Big Macs, midnight sunsets, a hundred brands of vodka in your local convenience store, muscled pistol-packing bodyguards, pin striped businessmen, all night dance clubs, and beautiful women right off the set of a 007 movie, Moscow is an intoxicating affront to your senses...
Baltic Impressions: Highlights of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have been part of the European Union since 2004. While renovations of numerous heritage sites are being undertaken all over, large parts of the countries are still untouched by Western lifestyle. The Baltic States are small enough to visit all three countries in one go while still unique enough not to blend into each other. I traveled from Vilnius in Lithuania to Tallinn in Estonia, passing through Latvia on the way.
Liechtenstein: A Friendly Little Country With Lots To Offer
Even though it's the sixth smallest country in the world, only 62 square miles, Liechtenstein has a lot to offer the traveler: charming villages, excellent cuisine, breathtaking Alpine landscapes, friendly citizens, and a prince who jogs around town and says "hoi" just like everyone else. Liechtenstein is bordered by Switzerland and Austria. It is home to 36,000 inhabitants and has only 90 police officers...
Indianapolis Motor Speedway: A Lap of the Track
I’d heard it was a fine automotive museum, but that’s an understatement. It’s an excellent museum, and while it has a section specifically dedicated to Indy cars, at least half the exhibits are devoted to other racecars, antique cars and other vehicles of speed. There are about 75 different vehicles on display at any given time in the museum. For example, The Chevrolet Corvette SS is displayed there...
Crossing Mongolia, the Land of the Great Blue Sky
As we continue on our journey, the scenery changes sometimes moment by moment. There are lots more groups of camels and whilst gazing at them through my binoculars, I see other signs of life. The moving mass that I can see across the steppe, is an immense herd of about two hundred wild donkeys. Even though, they are a long way off, I know they are keeping a timid eye on us as they begin to become a little twitchy and agitated....
Expoartesanías: Serious Shopping in Bogotá, Colombia
For nearly 20 years the feria, as it’s known, has brought the extraordinary cultural diversity that is Colombia to Bogotá – literally. The Colombian government provides travel and accommodations assistance so that artisans from remote indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities can come to the capital city for the two-week long event and sell their wares. More than 800 vendors representing each of Colombia’s 32 departments are set to participate this year.
Colombia: Cartagena's Carousel of Carousing Three years after my first visit, Cartagena, Colombia hadn’t changed an iota, still sitting pretty in pastel as South America’s party carousel, honeymoon carousal, and emerald capital. First place I’ve ever returned to that remained an exact clone of its former self, eternal Cartagena, city of dizzying beaches, bays, canals, islands, and copious pulchritude in architecture, gemstones, and femininity. Think San Francisco with decent beaches, whisked to the Caribbean...
Querétaro, Mexico: Living, Breathing History
This vibrant city is only a two-hour drive from Mexico City, which makes it a popular tourist destination for Mexicans. It has yet to capture the attention of the average American tourist, but I hope its new international airport will help change that. During our trip we took a walking tour of Santiago de Querétaro, visited a newly discovered archeological zone called El Cerrito, visited a Friexenet winery and camped at El Jabalí, an ecotourism campground...
Holiday Getaways in Austria and Switzerland
Tucked inside the Inn valley, shouldered by snow-capped mountains and colorful baroque churches, sits the charming Capital city of Innsbruck, Austria. The medieval Old Town section, with its pastel-painted, wedding cake-like buildings and labyrinth of alleyways invites aimless strolling for hours. Like other European towns, Innsbruck in December is awash with busy Christmas markets, festive meeting places for selling homemade crafts and ornaments....
Visiting Free Ukraine: A Journey Through the Shadows of History
There is a parable of Western Ukraine about a man who was born in Austria, educated in Poland, who went to war in Ukraine, fled to Germany and was executed in the Soviet Union, and he did it all without ever leaving his village. It’s difficult to write about Ukraine without writing about history, and it’s difficult to write about Ukrainian history and still leave room for anything else. I want to write a travel essay...
Roger Cox Reviews the Top Ten US Tennis Resorts
A great resort for a hard-core tennis junkie like me, who relishes five hours a day of demanding group clinics, will seem like torture to a someone who merely wants to play matches, with perhaps a lesson or clinic on the side. I ask the avid tennis players who visit my website, Tennis Resorts Online, to evaluate the tennis resorts they know first-hand based on a score of criteria, from the tennis instruction and programs to the creature comforts, even children’s programs...
Glacier Country: Real Dining, Real Skiing in Northwest Montana
Glacier Country Montana is made up of three sub-regions: Flathead, Glacier, and Lake counties; Missoula and Ravalli counties; and Lincoln, Sanders, and Mineral counties. Perhaps its most notable feature is Glacier National Park. There are countless state and national forests, protected public lands, rivers, and basins scattered throughout, as well as Native American reservations, scenic byways, and even eerie ghost towns...
Tips on How to RV All Over the World
RV the World is a new book by David Rich, a hopeless travel addict and GoNOMAD's most intrepid writer, who has braved blizzards, monsoons, desert heat and State Department travel advisories to visit the world's most out-of-the-way places from the Karakoram Mountains in Pakistan to the wilds of Borneo to the Harley-Davidson Rally Week in Sturgis, South Dakota. David retired in his forties to become a full-time international traveler...
Romania: Tracing the Footsteps of Count Dracula
All through my travels, in the darkest moments of doubt and misgiving, I had sensed the spirit of Bram Stoker, or even — a few times — the restless ghost of Prince Vlad the Impaler, urging me to go on just a little further, to tell the stories of themselves that they no longer could. I had been everywhere that is closely related to the literary Count Dracula or his historical counterpart, Prince Vlad the Impaler...
Babymoons: A Time For Relaxation for Expecting Couplesa
You’re thrilled to be pregnant! You’ve planned a shower, painted a nursery, and have begun choosing names. You are overjoyed to become a parent but as a traveler, you know that this may symbolize the end of packing up and taking off whenever you’d like. You may be worried that the start of your pregnancy means the end of your freedom. While your jet-setting lifestyle may temporarily cease, these is a solution to soothe your worries: Take a babymoon!
Airbnb.com: House Sharing with a Twist
After signing up and creating a member profile, one can search for accommodations or post a listing. A traveler can search by country, city, room type, or price. Unlike other sites that users can use to rent out couches or guest bedrooms, Airbnb.com has a diverse repertoire of accommodations. The creator of the website, Nathan Blecharczyk, described Airbnb.com as “The Ebay for accommodations” because there is such a variety of listings...
