Guest Area

I found this excellent hostel (HQ Hostel) in Bangkok, Thailand just the other day. It’s very affordable and modern.

This hostel is located in the center of Bangkok. It’s with in walking distance of the all the major attractions and major transportation hubs.

Check out their website to see more pictures and video’s of the place.

Before Redbox, was libaries and book, a small town in Westbury-sub-Mendip, England turned old phones booths into “old school Redboxes”. With that said I found this article on Been-Seen.Com and thought it was worth sharing.   Check out the full article.

Church Marketing Gurus: Brad Abare & Phil Cooke from ConversantLife on Vimeo.

Open Air markets are one of the oldest way of selling goods in any culture.  Also one of the best ways to understand a local culture. These markets share a lot about what local economy looks like especially in a third world country.

Since supermarkets or grocery stores are only found in westernized cultures. The majority of world get their fresh produced from local markets. This is a great way to hang out with the locals and learn first hand about the local cultures and get a way from the tourist hot stop. Also you can get some pretty sweet deals on local fruits and gifts to take home.

This website ( Openairmarket.com ) is a pretty good resource to find local markets across the world and the US, but when all else fails ask a local.

Okay so I ran across this site dedicated to Belgian Fries and since I had the please of enjoying a true Belgian Fries in Amsterdam. I needed to share this.

So a true Belgian Fries are:

1. freshly cut, irregularly shaped
2. cooked (fried) twice
3. fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside
4. a distinct potato taste
5. at least 10 mm thick
6. preferably served in a paper cone

Check out this fella’s Site to Learn all kinda of sweet things about Belgain Fries.

I just read an article on from the Daily Telegraph of Austraila, a man named Keiichi Iwaskai. He has been traveling since 2001 on 160 yen which is about $2 US.  Keiichi started riding his bike in japan and has gone places such as India, south Korea, and 37 other countries. 

I found this picture when I searching through Digg.

It’s a picture of the Morning Glory Pool in Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park.

Morning Glory Pool

Listen as Rob share’s what is happening around the world, when is he speaking at Newlifechurch in Little Rock, Arkansas. Also check out OneHope’s web site.

When embarking on a backpacking adventure to Europe here are a few things I learned from my experience.

• Backpack- Could probably be the most important piece of gear you take with you. Reason I say this is because this will be literally be your home for durations of your trips.  Qualities to look for in a good Pack-  Internal Frame (this will provide good disruptions of the weight to your hips) and  5000 Cubic inches of space
• Head lamp- I would recommend one that is LED lite and has red lens for when read at night or in a hostel where you don’t want wake anyone.
• Clothes- any light weight or clothes that will easily dry.   ExOfficio and Patagonia makes some really good gear.
• Swimmers Towel- It dries quick, and maybe more importantly they pack light.
• Silk Sheet- If you are hosteling, some hosteling will charge you for your linens. Plus they are comfortable.
• Sleeping bag- only need if you are going in the winter. (I didn’t take one when I went)
• Thermo-rest- makes sleeping on those hostel beds a lot more comfortable.
• Shoes- A good pair of walking shoes is a must!!!
• Watch- A good watch will definitely help with making the trains.
• Ipod- For those long train rides
• Universal power converter- to keep the Ipod charged

This a cool story that CNN ran about one of their correspondents in the Middle East.

Check out the link http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/getaways/11/06/happy.returns.habitat.humanity/