Monthly Archives: September 2009
Mystery Trip Update
See more posts in the Mystery Trip saga!
With only a week to go before take-off, I got a note from The Philadelphian, along with a small package. Here is the letter that I received.
One Week Before Your Trip – Reminders and Tips
You depart on Delta on Saturday September 19th in the late afternoon. Arrive at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport absolutely no later than 2:30pm!
Your destination will be made clear to you upon check-in. You will likely need to input your destination either into the kiosk. Your flight information is on a piece of paper attached below. Open only at the airport on your day of travel.
Note: You will be traveling via the international terminal.
Because you are traveling internationally and will have to go through immigration upon arrival you will need to state where you are staying. To avoid this problem, I have booked your first night of residence. I have booked ONLY your first night. Your biggest challenge, and I cannot understate this, will be finding accommodations beyond your first day. I wish you luck. Details will be provided in your travel day package.
Packing tips:
- Pack light. Be prepared to travel lightly and be comfortable with all your belongings on your back. Less is more. You need to be extremely mobile.
- Be prepared to have a lot of fun with lots of other people also having fun. You do not want to be hindered by your belongings.
- Do not pack any items that will create inhibitions in your actions. E.g. expensive cameras, video cameras or other items that could be stolen. I am not telling you not to bring such things. I am just telling you that the environment you will be placed in requires you to not care.
- I fully recommend 2 complete sets of clothes, but absolutely no more. Convertible shorts/pants would be ideal. It is likely some clothes will get very sloppy.
- Money. This trip by its nature will require you to spend some cash. I won’t say any more than that.
Your return flight is on Saturday October 10th around mid-day.
You will receive a full mission package with everything you will need from a navigation stand point. You have an incredible trip ahead of you. It starts off with a huge bang and then gets pretty serious pretty quick considering your mission.
Godspeed and Good Luck.
And on the package is written:
To: Beau Woods
From: The Handler
To be opened when the wheels leave the ground on 9/19/2009. Not a second before.
Contents: documents, book, pen, maps
Beer Market Shakeup
This is the first year that sales of Bud Light have declined. Is it a better year for good beer? Are other cervezas overtaking the 27-year old product? Well certainly one is – Snow beer in China. And it’s a Miller product. And it’s (also) a terrible beer.
Get A Diploma Online – Free!
A quick post, as much for my own reference as anything.
Resources for your free online education: http://www.popsci.com/freeschool?page=4
This one costs $99/month, but that’s almost free compared to most colleges: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/feature/college_for_99_a_month.php
100 incredible lectures from the world’s top scientists: http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2009/06/18/100-incredible-lectures-from-the-worlds-top-scientists/
And finally, print your own degree: http://thunderwoodcollege.com/
Location Of The Mystery Trip (Part 3)
This is part 3 in the series, where I speculate on where I might be going and tell you where I’d send me. Here are some things that I’ve learned in trying to figure out where I’ll be heading:
- Did you know that the official language of Guyana is English and that it is more similar to the Caribbean than to South America?
- Did you know that the three least known countries in the world are Tuvalu, Nauru and Kiribati? Nauru has a very interesting story. Kiribati is the only country in the world that spans all four hemispheres.
- Did you know that this will be the 199th year of Oktoberfest in Munich? It will be held September 19 – October 4.
- Did you know that the second largest Oktoberfest celebration in the world is in Blumenau, Brazil? And that the third largest is in Cordoba, Argentina?
I think that the most obvious place to send me during those dates is Oktoberfest in Munich. So obvious, in fact, that I doubt this will be it – or there will be an added element of surprise thrown in. Like “You fly into Munich and out of Prague. You are not allowed to take any form of motorized transportation during the three weeks.”
So where do I think I’m going? I think I’ll be flying into Venice, then following the Eastern coast of the Agean down to Greece and out of Athens. None of those countries require a visa and it would be a really cool trip. I put my odds of being right at about 15%.
Paris Urine Sauvage
Many people don’t believe me when I tell them about the streets of Paris running yellow. They think I’m making it up. They say things like “That can’t be. The French are very refined, especially the Parisians.” They’ve also never been there.
Paris has public toilets on the streets, but they cost money to use them so tourists mostly use them. I saw more public acts of excretion in Paris than in Beijing, which is shocking. And now comes a story of Paris buildings designed to splash back.
That’s one more layer of defense for me next time I hear how my culture is what’s wrong with the world today.
Location Of The Mystery Trip (Part 2)
This is the second part on where I might be going on my Mystery Trip, wherein I let you know where other folks have suggested to send me and stop just short of revealing where I think I’m headed and why.
My boss said he’d send me to one of the following locations:
Kerguelen Islands
Canary Islands
Tajikistan
A Finnish lake
I like the idea of Tajikistan. The mountainous region of Afghanistan and Pakistan – two of its neighbors – is someplace I’ve long wanted to go, and Tajikistan is 90% mountains. They also share a culture with Persia, another place I’d love to visit. The border with Afghanistan has been guarded by a modern army since at least 2001 and the country has ties with the World Trade Organization and NATO. I’d feel safe heading there, although I’d better get there quickly, according to Barnett.
A couple of my friends said they’d send me to Thailand. I like that idea, too. If nothing else I’m sure I could get some spectacular Tom Kha Gai soup. Though it will be the rainy season, that just means fewer tourists and cooler temperatures.
South America has been a popular suggestion. Specifically Peru and Argentina. I’d be alright with either of those. Machu Pichu looks incredibly beautiful and I’ve wanted to go to Buenos Aires for a long time.
Spotting Fake Travel Reviews
I learned something today from AOL. I had to read that sentence a couple of times before I believed it myself. But it’s true! They’ve got an article on how to spot fake hotel reviews and it’s worth a look. Many of these are something that you look for anyway, but some aren’t obvious. After reading this I have a better sense of what I usually do when I spot a review and say “This looks like an ad.”
Location Of The Mystery Trip (Part 1)
It’s now less than two weeks from my Mystery Trip and I have no more idea where I’m going than I did when I started this crazy idea. This is part one, in which I lay out what I know so far and stop just short of providing speculations on a location.
I’ve started working on the skills that I’ll use when I am wherever I am. I’m using an Asus eeepc 1005HA-B to type this up now. The screen glare is killing me. I’ve uploaded photos to Flickr and done some other basic tasks on here which will be required if I’m going to blog my trip.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s what I have been told so far:
I have been told that I have at least one mission planned.
The location will be North of the equator. (I suspect that this may be a red herring, since the real intent is so I don’t have to deal with Winter conditions where heavy clothing is essential to survival.)
I will be traveling Internationally.
I will not need to get a visa in advance.
I depart Saturday, September 19th and return Saturday October 10th.
I will be on a direct flight from Atlanta.
I need to travel light and carry boots.
I should have connectivity to the Internets available to me, though not at all times.
meanderingwoods 
