Climbing a Basque mountain

I've been hiking in Spain's Basque region for three days now, and now I'm facing the most challenging hike of my trip.

I and a few volunteers from my group are going up and over the Sierra de Toloño in La Rioja, Spain's most renowned wine-producing region. At nine miles it's not as long as my daily hikes along the Hadrian's Wall Path or the East Highland Way, but the 1,100-ft. elevation gain followed by a 2,100-ft. descent should be a pretty good workout.

If you have good enough scenery you never notice you're exercising, and this hike certainly fits the bill. Starting along a dirt road high in the Sierra, we stroll through dark, damp forest. When we peek through the trees we see the morning mist is still veiling the summit. Here and there the land is scarred by new roads. Locals supplement their income with small-scale logging, a right they've had for centuries. Charcoal burners used to work up here too, slowly burning wood to create charcoal for the Basque region's forges.

One legendary charcoal burner is still celebrated every year. Olentzero is a drunken old charcoal burner with a dirty face, a pipe clenched in his teeth, a beer gut, and a big sack of toys he brings for the kids. Sounds like the embarrassing uncle everyone has to put up with at family functions. Olentzero is a Basque figure. Most of Spain gets their presents from Los Reyes, the three kings.

Dreaming of Bali - A guide to Indonesian food

Pizza lovers, did you know Indonesians adore Pizza Hut? True, your typical Indonesian pie probably has more crispy fish pieces, shrimp and corn on it than you're used to back home. And you probably won't find avocado milkshakes as an option at the soda fountain back in Grand Rapids. But the Indonesians in Bali are lovers of pizza much like you and I, dear reader, and unashamedly so.

At this point, more experienced travelers are probably scratching their heads. Who travels to Indonesia and writes about American fast food?? But the truth be known, this odd love for all things pizza illustrates a surprising fact: Indonesians are cultural chameleons when it comes to eating. This immense island nation is a place criss-crossed by trade winds of diverse culinary origin, bringing together influences and ingredients from places as far-flung as China, The Netherlands, India and even Mexico.

Whether you're just visiting Bali or making a larger exploration of the Indonesian archipelago, expect to be surprised by Indonesia's spicy, exotic, and altogether unexpected blend of delicious eats. A taste of the tropics, and a taste of home at the same time. Ready to dig in? Keep reading below to begin your exploration of Indonesian (and Balinese) cuisine.

Latin America on a budget: How to plan a budget-friendly adventure

Latin America is one of the world's most budget-friendly regions for visitors. There are very cheap places to stay across the region--most notably across Central America--where a few dollars will get you a bed for the night and dinner.

But in a budget-friendly region like Latin America there are also huge divides in terms of quality. How do you do your research to make sure that you come up with decent accommodations and an itinerary that delivers the best value for your money?

There's a big difference between a guesthouse that's cheap, clean, and cheerful and one that's filthy and barely fit for a hedgehog. There's a big difference between good cheap restaurants and bad cheap grub, too. How do you make the right planning decisions to make sure that you end up pinching pennies in a manner that's both high-value and high-quality?

Hotel Madness: No Free Wi-Fi wins!

 

After weeks of competition, thousands of votes and tons of ranting and raving on Twitter, all of you have made it abundantly clear that you hate paying for internet access at hotels. No free Wi-Fi dominated every round of the Hotel Madness tournament on its way to winning the championship. No hotel pet peeve so thoroughly and completely annoyed our readers like having to pay for Wi-Fi. Bad water pressure should be proud to have made it to the finals, but it was no match for Hotel Madness' own 800-pound gorilla. In a sea of added fees, poor service, thin toilet paper and, yes, bad water pressure, all people truly seem to want is to connect to the web - and the world - for free.

More than 8,000 votes were cast over the course of the Hotel Madness tournament. Thank you all so much for participating and for sharing your opinions. There were upsets, blowouts, nail-biters and some fantastic conversations. In the end, our #1 seed proved why it was the pre-tournament favorite. Paying for Wi-Fi was the most tweeted peeve when I first asked my followers to share what bothered them most at hotels. In fact, even though I asked everyone to name things that bothered them other than paying for internet access, people still shared their disdain for that expense.

Over 17 Thousands USB Sticks Get Left At The Dry Cleaners

I wrote this article because when I found out, well to be honest I didn’t just think it was funny, I though it was pretty cool as well, it is a pretty serious matter loosing a USB stick and to find out, 17 thousand of them just get left in at the dry cleaners, well it just shows how much more advance everyone is getting and how small USB sticks are getting! I mean I can barely tell if I’ve got a USB stick in my pocket and to be honest, I’d probably leave one in there and it seems that’s what thousands and thousands of people seem to keep doing, you must be thinking of course there are dangers involved and you are right, USB sticks can be very, very dangerous to your security.

USB Sticks

Lets face it, every single survey I’ve ever seen, is spammy, it’s pointless and has no real point behind it, other then to promote a company/product/product research, that’s it pure and simple, that’s the use of online surveys in 2011, only 400 dry cleaners were polled for the report which allowed us to find out roughly how many USB pens get lost, but this is meant to be a 400% increase from 2009, that’s a hueg increase in just 2 years.
So what it is all about? Well USB pens are great, it’s that simple, there aren’t many faults to them and there are of course plently of more expsensive USB pens which will cost you more, but cover up these flaws, stuff like added security, drop/water damage (You’d need one in this case!) protected USB sticks and god knows what else! If you use a computer, a USB stick is something you’ll probably own, if you work from home sometimes, you’ll probably have one and if you work from home + the office, your wasting time not having one, it’s that simple.

Somali pirates anchor Danish family yacht, threaten death

Now it's a Danish family of five, including three children, that has been taken hostage by Somali pirates who vow to kill them should a rescue attempt be made. The pirated yacht, taken last week, was anchored off the shore of Somalia today.

The 43-foot sailboat was being piloted by Jan Quist Johansen along with his wife, their three children, ages 12 to 16 and two Danish crew members.

A Somali pirate going by the name of Muse Abdi said the family was transferred to another, larger pirated ship.

Richest man in the world opens art museum in Mexico City

Carlos Slim is the richest man in the world with an estimated net worth of over fifty billion U.S. dollars. He recently unveiled his new Soumaya Art Museum in Mexico City. The anchor shaped structure houses Slim's personal art collection and includes works by Diego Rivera, Auguste Rodin, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Salvador Dali.

According to the AP, the Soumaya is named after Slim's late wife and designed by his son-in-law, architect Fernando Romero. The curvy structure's exterior is covered with over 16,000 hexagon shaped aluminum panels that glimmer radically in the Mexican sun. The massive interior is 183,000 square feet, providing plenty of space to peruse Slim's collection. The art housed within the Soumaya will be a rotation of the billionaire's personal art collection, which includes over 66,000 (!) pieces. The Soumaya opens to the public on March 29.