Interdisciplinary art gallery in New York allows travelers to buy a ticket for a journey unknown

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Filed under: Arts and Culture, Learning, Festivals and Events, North America, United States, Transportation, Budget Travel

Calling all free spirits: Have you ever felt the urge to just get on a random train and let it take you to a new place. Do you like the idea of forgoing any trip planning and just letting the journey guide you to where you will go? Well now through mid-April, the Bureau of Unknown Destinations in Brooklyn, New York, is open for business.

Basically, travelers will book a free round-trip train ticket to a destination unknown and will be given an envelope telling them where they can expect to go, a notebook, and a simple yet silly task. The goal of the popup travel agency, which is part of an artist's residency going on at the Proteus Gowanus interdisciplinary art gallery and reading room, is to "offer temporary displacement to members of the public seeking to experiment with their migratory impulses".

The Bureau of Unknown Destinations is located at 543 Union Street in Brooklyn, and bookings can be made up to two weeks in advance. Their hours are a bit odd, so I would contact them before going in, although they are open most Saturdays from 1-5PM. You can also make an appointment by emailing Sal Randolph at SalRandolph@gmail.com.

[flickr photo via Valerie Everett]

Interdisciplinary art gallery in New York allows travelers to buy a ticket for a journey unknown originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jessica Festa 21 Jan, 2012

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10 places to celebrate Chinese New Year

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Filed under: Festivals and Events, North America, China, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, United States, Hong Kong

Chinese New Year occurs in the early months of our calendar year, typically January or February and this year falls on January 23rd. This is the first of 15 days of celebration and the start of the Year of the Dragon.

Chinese New Year (also called the Lunar New Year) is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese calendar and a time to welcome longevity, wealth and prosperity and to eliminate any negative chi from the past.

The origin of Chinese New Year taps several myths and traditions and is officially celebrated in countries and territories such as Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and also in Chinatowns elsewhere. Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the lunar new year celebrations of its geographic neighbors.

Gallery: 10 Places that celebrate Chinese New Year

Continue reading 10 places to celebrate Chinese New Year

10 places to celebrate Chinese New Year originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chris Owen 21 Jan, 2012

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Source: http://www.gadling.com/2012/01/20/10-places-to-celebrate-chinese-new-year/
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Vagabond Tales: The strange food of Vietnam

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Filed under: History, Learning, Scuba Diving, Food and Drink, Stories, Asia, Vietnam

Apparently, there are no sharks left in Vietnam.

This is not a scientific fact. It's based solely upon the opinion of my dive instructor in Nha Trang, a trendy resort town in southern Vietnam. While you may initially think this is a good thing, the sad reality is that sharks are one of the most threatened animals in the undersea environment and the vast majority pose no threat to humans whatsoever.

The instructor claimed he hadn't seen a shark underwater in over 8 years, a fact which led me to speculate as to why. Was the water warmer? Had their food moved further offshore? Had he just not been looking?

The answer, it would turn out, wasn't as much of a mystery as I was making it out to be.
"Because we eat them all" he nonchalantly mused. "Vietnam, Korea, China, eat all the shark. No more shark."

While I knew that shark fin soup was a much sought after dish in the Far East, I didn't think it had reached such dire levels where a trained professional who goes into the water actually looking for them hadn't encountered one in nearly a decade.

Continue reading Vagabond Tales: The strange food of Vietnam

Vagabond Tales: The strange food of Vietnam originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kyle Ellison 21 Jan, 2012

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#FriFotos: Huli Wigmen Take New York

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This week’s #FriFotos* theme is EXOTIC, and New York City recently was the exotic playground for two visitors far, far away from home.

To a Huli Wigman of Papua New Guinea, the streets of Manhattan have got to seem pretty exotic. And vice versa. Even among the blasé denizens of New York, the warriors manage to turn a few heads.

Papua New Guinea, an island nation in the southwest Pacific Ocean, is one of the most culturally diverse countries on earth and home to some 800+ languages. To the American eye, its peoples’ traditions appear exotic and intriguing, especially those of the Huli Wigmen, warriors who craft elaborate headdresses out of their hair, feathers, and plants, and the Asaro Mudmen who cover themselves in mud and don ghoulish masks to hearken back to a legendary defeated tribe who tried to recover stolen land by wearing such “earthy” disguises. The Wigmen and Mudmen usually materialize during celebrations and rituals in PNG so it was surprising when they showed up last month in New York City of all places.

We touched base with Ally Stoltz of the PNG Tourism Promotions Authority, who hosted the special visitors, to learn more about them and their NYC sojourn.

Meg Weaver: How long did it take for the Wigman and Mudman to travel from PNG to NYC?

Ally Stoltz: They flew Port Moresby to Auckland to Los Angeles to New York–roughly 40 hours.

MW: Where did they go in Manhattan? What did they see?

AS: The first day we got to New York we went straight to the Flower District to buy plants for their costumes because they packed TONS of plants & dirt that was obviously confiscated along their travels! They were like kids in the candy store with all the plants. They bought ones just for their hotel room . . . not for the costume! They also had pizza for the first time. They went on the Staten Island Ferry by night so they could see the city from another angle (honestly, they wanted to get away from all the noise) and to see the Statue of Liberty.

MW: What did they think of what they saw/did?

AS: The most interesting part of their trip to U.S. was that they didn’t have much to say at all about it. Journalists and the people at the party kept asking them, “WHAT DO YOU THINK OF NYC?!” and, as Papua New Guinea is known for its quiet, modest culture (until you make them mad), they just would almost whisper, “Yes, it’s good . . . or very busy” and that’s about it.  They are really not extroverted people because in village life, extroverts stir up trouble and it’s all about maintaining balance in communities like theirs. And there’s respect issues and the language barrier as well–only the Mudman really spoke conversational English. But back home they speak two to three languages, Tok Pisin and then their town/village languages.

MW: What did New Yorkers have to say about them?

AS: They encountered a wide variety of responses. Some people couldn’t be bothered as they had places to go. An old man in SoHo nearly lost his mind, couldn’t say he had seen anything like them ever before. The Wigman and Mudman definitely turned heads in Times Square. The most common response people had was one of reverence and fascination–their costumes are very intricate and they managed to bring more teeth, bones, feathers, and hair into the country than I ever thought possible.

Related: Dance with the Huli Wigmen

Meg Weaver is a senior researcher for National Geographic Traveler.

*What's #FriFotos, you ask? It's a weekly Twitter chat founded by @EpsteinTravels during which travelers share their favorite pics. Each week has a theme. Search #FriFotos on Twitter to see the latest submissions or tweet one of your own!

Meg Weaver 20 Jan, 2012

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Source: http://intelligenttravel.nationalgeographic.com/2012/01/20/frifotos-exotic-new-yor/
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A Traveler in the Foreign Service: Ding Dongs and danger pay in Kosovo

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Filed under: Europe, Macedonia, Kosovo

When I worked at the American Embassy in Skopje, I looked forward to visiting Kosovo. Not because I liked the place, but because I wanted junk food. American junk food. I'm talking Hostess cupcakes, Chips Ahoy, Jif Peanut Butter and the like. And trips to Kosovo, if you were crafty, meant a visit to Camp Bondsteel, a huge American military base with a P.X. that was sort of like a mini Wal-Mart.

Aside from the availability of American goodies, Pristina was still considered a hazard post with 25% danger pay, and one could collect this extra cash, on a prorated basis, even if you were there for as little as a half day of "work." At the time, Kosovo was part of Skopje's consular district, so it wasn't difficult to drum up a reason to go there, and our local employees there were well schooled on the drill: make sure to set up some contrived meeting or a tour at Camp Bondsteel, so we could have lunch at Burger King and shop at the P.X.

I traveled extensively in developing countries before joining the Foreign Service but I never felt the need to hunt down American products while overseas. Part of the joy of travel is in buying unfamiliar products and eating different foods. But within a few months of living in Skopje, I found myself craving not just American products but also the American shopping experience I was familiar with. Why?

I had a local supermarket called Vero close to my apartment in Skopje but I dreaded going to the place. Aside from the fact that they didn't have things that I thought were staples- fresh low-fat milk, lettuce and the like- navigating the parking lot was always an experience.

Continue reading A Traveler in the Foreign Service: Ding Dongs and danger pay in Kosovo

A Traveler in the Foreign Service: Ding Dongs and danger pay in Kosovo originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dave Seminara 20 Jan, 2012

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The Radar: Top U.S. Travel Destinations 2012, Mini Guide to Montreal, Beautiful Tramways

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• Visit before the crowds come in. TripAdvisor recently named 15 U.S. destinations on the rise in 2012 (including Scottsdale, Arizona, above).  [TripAdvisor via Travel Daily News]

• Plan an impromptu visit to Montreal this weekend with this mini guide, packed with essentials like what to see, where to stay, and how to find the best in food, shopping, and entertainment. [BBC Travel]

• Take in stunning views along the world’s most beautiful tramway rides. [Got Saga]

Got Radar? Follow us on Twitter @NatGeoTraveler and tag your favorite travel stories from the Web #ngtradar. Check back in the morning for our daily roundup.

Photo: Harry Taylor/My Shot

Giovanna Palatucci 20 Jan, 2012

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Source: http://intelligenttravel.nationalgeographic.com/2012/01/20/the-radar-top-u-s-travel-destinations-2012-mini-guide-to-montreal-beautiful-tramways/
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Bowermaster's Adventures: Iceberg spotting in the rain

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Filed under: Activism, Arts and Culture, Learning, Paddling, Antarctica

Enterprise Island-- Rain, rain go away.

We woke tied-off to the rusted hulk of a half-sunken Norwegian whaling ship. Its story is legend along the Peninsula for having caught fire a century ago during a sail-away party, its stores of whale oil afire lighting up the sky for several days. Now it is just another ruined reminder of those boom days when Antarctica's whales were one of the world's biggest producers of oil for lighting and heat.

Today is one of those days down here that you wish you could be sitting by some kind of warm fire, whether in the comfort of your living room or a preferably a bonfire. At eight this morning it is thirty-four degrees and raining, conditions which began yesterday and promise to be with us for at least two more. Thanks to satellite imagery we are able to track the weather up to five days in advance, more or less; at the very least we know when high and low pressure systems are on the way and from what direction to expect the winds.

Loading into a hypalon Zodiac -- Graham Charles, an old friend of mine and great Kiwi explorer, Skip Novak, a longtime sail racer and owner of the "Pelagic Australis" that sailed us to Antarctica and myself -- round the southwestern edge of Enterprise Island to have a look at the art show of grounded icebergs that gather in the relatively shallow waters each summer season.

We are not disappointed. Twenty and thirty foot tall icebergs litter the alley. One has a pair of small arches carved through it by wind and waves. Another has a sheer wall, like smooth granite, rising straight out of the cold sea. Another is ridged by undulations carved into its underside over many years before it rolled onto its side.

Continue reading Bowermaster's Adventures: Iceberg spotting in the rain

Bowermaster's Adventures: Iceberg spotting in the rain originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jon Bowermaster 20 Jan, 2012

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Source: http://www.gadling.com/2012/01/20/bowermasters-adventures-iceberg-spotting-in-the-rain/
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